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AUTHOR: 


BAXTER,  WILLIAM 

bDWARD 


TITLE: 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE 
TIBER; 


PLACE: 


LONDON 


DATE: 


1852 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


Master  Negative  # 


BIBLIOGRII 


iC  MICROFORM  1 ARGET 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


B33 


Baxtori  Wlllfam  Edward,  1825 -1890. 

The  Tagus  and  the  Tiber ;  or,  Notes  of  travel  in  Portu- 
gal, Spain,  and  Italy,  in  1S50-51.  By  William  Edward 
Baxter  ...     London,  R.  Bentley,  1852. 


2  V.    10«». 


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THE  TAGUS 


AND     THE     TIBEE. 


VOL.  I. 


THE    TAGUS 


AND     THE     TIBER: 


OR, 


NOTES  OF  TRAVEL  IN  PORTUGAL, 
SPAIN,  AND  ITALY, 


IN  1850-1. 


BT 


WILLIAM  EDWARD   BAXTER. 


IN   TWO   VOLUMES. 
VOL.  I. 


LONPOn: 

r..    CL\Y.    PRINTER,    BKEAD    3TREKT    HILL. 


LONDON : 

RICHARD  BENTLEY,  NEW  BURLINGTON   STREET, 

IJublis^cr  in  ©rlrinarg  to  |l?et  iftajeetg. 

1852. 


i-\ 


'^ 


«4 


Si - 


..J 


?  H  E  F  A  C  E. 


Steamers  and  railroads  have  rendered  even 
the  most  distant  countries  in  Europe  so  ac- 
cessible to  travellers,  that  the  public  gene- 
rally feel  now  much  less  interest  in  books 
such  as  that  which,  with  great  diffidence,  I 
venture  to  commit  to  the  press.  Whatever 
faults  of  another  kind  the  narrative  portions 
of  the  work  may  have,  they  possess  at  least 
the  advantage  of  having  been  wTitten  on  the 
spot.  Dr.  Johnson  once  remarked, —  "How 
seldom  descriptions  correspond  with  reahties  ; 
and  the  reason  is,  that  people  do  not  write 
them   till    some   time   after,    and   then    their 


140^37 


I 


VI 


PREFACE. 


4 

imagination  has  added  circumstances.*'  In 
order  to  avoid  this  prevalent  error,  I  omitted 
no  opportunity  of  recording  my  impressions 
at  the  time, — often,  indeed,  when  writing  was 
by  no  means  an  agreeable  occupation.  I 
have  endeavoured  faithfully  and  accurately  to 
communicate  to  the  reader  some  idea  of  the 
countries  which  I  visited.  My  narrative  may 
be  very  imperfect,  but  it  has  not  been  em- 
beUished  at  the  expense  of  truth. 


The  fact  of  my  not  having  travelled  alone 
on  either  occasion,  will  explain  the  frequent 
use  of  the  plural  pronoun  in  the  following 
pages. 

My  object  in  adding  to  the  notes  of  these 
successive  journeys  the  observations  contained 
in  the  five  last  chapters  of  the  second  volume, 
is,  to  call  attention  to  subjects  which  a  tra- 


PREFACE. 


Vll 


veller  can  with  special  propriety  illustrate, 
and  which  are  of  no  small  importance  to  us 
as  a  people.  If  my  remarks  induce  any  to 
study  the  present  political  condition  of  Italy, 
the  influence  of  Roman  Catholicism  on  the 
nations,  or  the  social  institutions  of  central 
Europe,  I  shall  feel  that  the  leisure  hours  of 
a  few  winter  evenings  have  not  been  mis- 
employed. They  are  intended  to  be  sug- 
gestive, not  dogmatic  ;  to  invite  investigation, 
rather  than  to  support  theories. 


It  has  been  well  said,  that  "  A  long  journey, 
like  a  tall  maypole,  furnishes  a  sort  of  cloak- 
pin  on  which  to  hang  the  furniture  of  your 
mind ;  and  whoever  sets  out  upon  a  tour 
without  furnishing  his  mind  previously  with 
study  and  useful  knowledge,  erects  a  maypole 
in  December,  and  puts  up  a  very  useless 
cloak-pin.''    Heartily  coinciding  with  this  sen- 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


timent,  I  have  varied  my  journal  with  dis- 
cussions which  may  perchance  prove  not  un- 
acceptable to  those  more  interested  in  the 
social  state  of  a  people  than  in  scenery  and 
architecture. 


Dundee, 

February  20,  1852. 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Influence  and  Civilizing  Effects  of  Steam  Navigation— Southamp- 
ton on  the  Seventeenth  of  the  Month— Passengers  on  Board 
the  Pacha^K  travelling  Republic— The  Bay  of  Biscay— A 
Morning  at  Vigo— Bar  of  the  Douro— Swell  at  the  Mouth  of 
the  Tagus  —  Moonlight  in  Southern  CHmates  —  Arrival  at 
Lisbon— Hotels  in  the  Portuguese  Capital— The  Custom- 
house •         •.....  1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Situation  and^  Buildings  of  Lisbon— The  Aqueduct— Belem— 
Portuguese  Soldiery— Mementos  of  the  Earthquake— Noises 
m  the  Streets — State  Procession  to  the  Church  of  Santa 
Vicente^The  Queen—A  Villa  in  the  Country— Notes  on  the 
Nation  and  its  Rulers— Want  of  Roads— Attachment  of  the 
Lower  Classes  to  Don  Miguel  —  Political  Parties  —  Costa 
Cabral— AboUtion  of  the  Conventual  Orders— Prospects  of 
Portugal 20 

VOL.  L  h 


X  CONTKNTS   (►F   THE    FIKST    VOLUME. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Departure  for  Torres  Vedras — Singular  mode  of  Conveyance— 
A  High-road  in  Portugal— Notes  on  the  Appearance  of  the 
Country  — Travelling  at  Night  — The  Pole  Star  — Sudden 
Stoppage  —The  Village  of  Torres  Vedras— Scene  in  the  Inn— 
The  Lines— Vineyards  in  the  Vicinity— Wines  and  the  Vintage 
—  A  Grape  Warehouse— Mi\fra— The  Palace— Its  Desolation- 
Arrival  at  Cintra— Beauty  of  its  Situation— The  Cork  Convent 
—The  Cliffs— Colhares—Montserrat — The  La  PenaConvent— 
View  from  the  Summit  of  the  Rock— Donkey-rides— Dress  <f 
the  Peasantry— Their  Politeness— Return  to  Lisbon— The 
Gallegoa— Cacilhas  and  Jackass  Bay— Panorama  of  the  City- 
English  Sailors— The  Iberia— Xrrixal  at  Cadiz  .         41 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Cadiz,  its  Situation  and  Appearance— The  beautiful  Gaditanas  — 
The  Alameda  at  Sunset— Puerto  Santa  Maria— liiiuks  of  the 
(Juadalete— Xerez  de  la  Frontera— The  "  Bodegas,"  or  Wine 
Magazines— Manufacture  of  Sherry— Demand  for  it  exceeds 
the  Supply  —Description  of  the  Country  between  Xerez  and 
San  Lucar  —  Intense  Heat— Steamer  on  the  Guadal<iuiver 
—The  Mirage — Agriculture  on  the  bimks  of  the  River — Herds 
of  Cattle— Approach  to  Seville— The  Fonda  de  la  Reyna— 
The  Cathedral— Magnificence  of  the  Interior— The  Organ- 
Power  of  Music  —  Picture  of  the  Guardian  Angel  —  The 
Alcazar,  or  ancient  Palace  of  the  Moorish  Kings— Spanish  Art 
— Murillo's  Paintings  —  His  "  Moses  Striking  the  Rock," 
and  "St.  Thomas  ReUeving  Beggars"  —  Remarks  on  his 
Genius ^° 


CHAPTER  V. 

The   Records   of  Columbus  at  Seville— The   University— The 
Giralda  Tower— Present  state  of  the  City— Return  to  Cadiz— 


CONTENTS   OF   THE   FIRST   VOLUME. 


XI 


i 


The  Mercurio — Trafalgar — The  Pillars  of  Hercules — Phos- 
phorescent Waves — First  sight  of  Gibraltar — San  Roque — Tlie 
Free  Church  of  Scotland — Refusal  of  a  Site  for  a  Presbyterian 
Place  of  Worship  by  the  Authorities  of  the  Rock — British 
Colonial  Governors  and  their  Policy — Notes  on  Gibraltar — 
The  Town — Batteries  and  Villas — An  instance  of  French 
Manners — Observations  on  the  Propriety  of  England  retaining 
the  Fortress — Its  Position — Militaiy  Strength  .and  Influence 
in  Southern  Europe — The  Spanish  Tariff,  not  the  Guns  of 
Gibraltar,  the  cause  of  the  Contraband  Trade         .         .         95 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Quarantine  Laws — Spanish  Steamers — Algeziras — The  Barcino — 
Official  Indolence — Arrival  at  Malaga — Situation  of  the  Town 
— The  Manufactories — Observations  on  the  Commercial  Policy 
of  Sj)ain  Effects  of  the  Tariff — Constitutional  Government— 
W.'uit  of  Principle  among  the  Politicians  at  Madrid — Federal- 
ism— Prospects  of  the  Country — Raisin  Trade  of  Malaga — 
Road  to  Granada — Journey  in  "  Calesas"  —  Ascent  of  the 
Sierra — Dreary  Nature  of  the  Scenery — Robbers  on  this  High- 
way— Loja — Historical  Reminiscences  connected  with  the 
Route — Parador  de  los  Angeles — The  Mountains  of  the 
Province 124 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Leave  Loja — The  Vega  of  Granada — Distant  view  of  the  City — 
Santa  Y6 — Incident  of  the  Siege— Arrival  at  the  Fonda  de  la 
Amistad — A  Sj^anish  Post-office — First  Visit  to  the  Alhambra 
— Gate  of  the  Pomegranates — The  Torre  de  la  Vela — Splen- 
dour of  the  Prospect  —The  Appearance  of  the  Vega — Surrender 
of  the  City— The  Alberca— The  Court  of  the  Lions— Hall  of 


I 


xu 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST   VOLUME. 


the  Abencemges-Lmdaraxa-s  Garden-Hall  of  the  Amba«- 
Bador«-Faio-  Character  of  the  Palace-The  Generalife- 
Note8  on  Granada-Junction  of  the  Xenil  and  the  Darro- 
The  Cartuja  Convent-The  Albaycin-Gipsy  Caverns  in  the 
Rocks-The  VermUion  Towers-Present  state  of  the  Alhani- 
bra-Inscriptions  on  the  Walls-Legend  of  the  Abencerrage, 
-The  Hall  of  Justice-Washington  Irving-View  from  the 
Tower  of  Comares-Employments  of  the  People-Hopes  of 
the  Moors-Probable  Fate  of  the  Alhambra-The  Religion  of 
Mahomet,  a  Meteor,  which  must  soon  pass  away 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Granada  by  Moonlight-Spanish  Diligences-0«r  Fellow-travel- 
Ters-ContineuUl  Manners-Degeneracy  of  the  Higher  Cl^ 
-Example  of  the  Court-Necessity  for  a  Moral  Reform-\  lew 
of  the  Sierra  Neva.la-Badness  of  the  Roa<l-Inns  in  Spam- 
Detention  during  the    Night-Bailen-The    OUve    Trees- 
Further  Delay  at  La  Carolina-Gorge   of  Despena-perros- 
Enter  La  Mancha->Iisery  of  the  People-\  aldepenas-The 
Windmills-Don  Quixote-Erroneous  Ideas  prev-Uen   re^d^ 
ing  the  Scenery  of  the  Peninsula-Absence  of  Trees  and  Shmbs 
-Nakedness  of  the  Fields-Inhabitants  of  La  Ouardia^Their 
extreme  Wretchedness-Spanish  Beggars-Fourth  Accident 
to  our  Conveyance-Aranjue^Arrival  at  Madnd-Douaniers 
Tlie  Puerto  del  Sol  ..•••■ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Situation   of  Madrid-Its  Buildings  and    Shops-Province    of 

cIuLia-The  Chapel  Royal-Officiating  Pnests-Scene  on 

U^pLo-The  Queen-Her  Personal  Appearance -Roman 

Catholicism  in   Spain-Irreligion   in   the  Country-Process 

from  Superstition  to  Infidelity-Power  «/ ^^^/^P^y-^^^, 
tn^st  between  Protestant  and  Roman  CathoUc  Nations   .     205 


I 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  FIRST   VOLUME.  xiii 


CHAPTER  X. 

Agriculture  in  Spain— Want  of  Roads— The  Armourj-  at  Madrid 
—The  Museum,  or  Gallery  of  Paintings— Pictures  by  Murillo 
—Titian's  "  Adoration  of  the  Kings  "— Rafifaelle's  "  Lo  Spasimo 
della  Sicilia"  and  "  La  Perla"  —  Notes  on  Rembrandt  and 
Rubens— Sentimental  Admiration  of  the  Flemish  School— Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  on  "Instantaneous  Raptures  "—Vulgarity  of 
Rubens'  Works— His  Portrait  of  Sir  Thomas  More— The 
Street  of  Alcala  on  Mondays— Visit  to  a  Bull-fight— Descrip- 
tion of  the  Exhibition— My  Sensations  while  witnessing  it- 
Remarks  on  the  Amusement— Its  increasing  Popularity— De- 
parture for  the  Escurial— The  Palace— Village  and  Church  on 
the  Guadarama  Mountains— Return  to  the  Capital      .         224 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Leave   Madrid— Passports— Passengers   in   the   Diligence— The 
loquacious  Frenchman— Spurs  of  the  Guadaramas-Somosierra 
—The  Tagus  and  the  Douro—Aranda— Burgos— The  Cathedral 
_"  Cofre  del  Cid  "—Traffic  on  the  Great  Northern  Road— 
The  Porta  Augusta^Valley  of  the  Ebro— Beautiful  Women  of 
Miranda— The  Basque  Provinces— The  Feelings  of  their  Inha 
bitants  toward  the  present  Dynasty- Abolition  of  the  National 
"Fueros"— Battle  of  Vittoria— Collision  at  Night— Ascent  of 
the  Pyrenees— Team  of  Oxen— Tolosa— Resemblance  of  the 
Country  to  Switzerland- View  of  the  Sea  at  St.  Sebastian- 
Inin-Fuenterrabia^Cross    the    Bidassoa^French   Custom- 
house-Scenery near  St.  Jean  de  Luz-Bayonne-Banks  of  the 
Adour-Snowy  Peaks  of  the  Pyrenees-Journey  to  Bordeaux 
—French  Manners— Arrival  at  Poictiers      ...         256 


XIV 


(XIXTEXTS   OF   THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Month  of  May — Lausanne  and  the  Lake  of  Geneva — Agricul- 
ture of  the  Canton  de  Vaud — Priestcraft  in  the  Vallaia — Sion — 
ICracalous  Escape  of  our  Diligence  and  its  PaHsengers — Awful 
Soene — Journey  in  Chars-h-banc — Reach  Brieg — Aacent  of  the 
SbiploB— The  RoiMi— The  Glaciera— The  Galleries  —Visit  to 
tlw  H<Mfnce — Dreary  Prospect — Grandeur  of  the  Mountains — 
SardiniMi  Frontier — View  from  the  Heights  above  Domo  d'Os- 
aola — *n»  Lftgo  Maggiore — Lovely  Scenery — The  Breezes  of 
Italy — Arona — Seato  Calende — An  Austrian  Custom-house 
Examimtion — Arrival  at  Milan 273 


ERRATUM. 


Page  2,  last  line, /or  1,500,  read  500. 


^1 


THE    TAGUS 
AND    THE    TIBER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INFLUENCE  AND  CIVILIZING  EFFECTS  OF  STEAM  NAVIGATION- 
SOUTHAMPTON  ON  THE  SEVENTEENTH  OF  THE  MONTH — PASSEN- 
GERS   ON    BOARD    THE    PACHA— A    TRAVELLING    REPUBLIC— THE 

BAY    OF    BISCAY — A  MORNING    AT    VIGO BAR    OF    THE   DOURO 

SWELL  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  TAGUS— MOONLIGHT  IN  SOUTHERN 
CLIMATES — ARRIVAL  AT  LISBON — HOTELS  IN  THE  PORTUGUESE 
CAPITAL — THE  CUSTOM-HOUSE. 

Every  man  interested  in  the  progressive  civil- 
ization of  the  world  must  feel  the  importance  of  that 
part  which  steam-navigation  will  sustain  in  bringing 
about  mighty  changes.  How  short  a  time  has 
elapsed  since  this  great  propelling  power  was 
unknown  !  How  many  amongst  us,  still  in  their 
meridian  strength,  can  look  back  on  voyages  across 
the  Irish  Channel,  or  the  Straits  of  Dover,  in  little 
vessels,  which  for  hours  and  days  together  expe- 

VOL.  I.  B 


* 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


EFFECTS   OF   STEAM. 


3 


the  opjH>>itioii  of  inconstant  breezes!     But 
liiv  tviuimcncemcnt  of  the  present  century  was  to 
1^  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  in  the  history 
oi     luaiikind.       The    CUrmuut    on    the    Hudson, 
ai.d    tho    Cistirt    on    the    Clyde,  were    the    pre- 
cursors of  a  revohition  in  the  economy  of  nations, 
n<>  !t^:<<  striking  than  that  which  the  printing-press 
•ct^ni  in  literal uix',  or  the  voyages  of  Cohmibus 
rtTi  tho  social  aspects  of  that  New  "Wurkl  which  he 
-vxnercd  beyond  the  western  sea. 
The  general  fact  that  steam-vessels  are  now  being 
ly  introduced  throughout  the  civilised  globe, 
N\  (^  know  :  but  perhaps  there  are  few  who  would  not 
lie  suqiriseil  were  they  to  see  a  list  of  all  these  ships, 
and  ot  the  ten  thousand  ports  which  they  regularly 

Every  London  tradesman  can  tell  you  that 
daily  jwicket.-*  cross  the  Straits  to  Boidogne  and 
Calais,  that  steamers  constantly  ply  between  the 
r  <  n  jM.liji  and  places  in  Scotland  and  Germany — 
j>erchance  that  Her  Majesty's  mails  arc  carried 
over  the  Atlantic  by  majestic  ships,  which  plough 
the  ocean  at  the  rate  of  thirteen  knots  an  hour ; 
but  i  question  ii  very  large  proportion  even 
of  our  educated  country-men  know  that  about  1,500 


steamers  now  ply  on  the  Mississippi,  that  the  snorting 
of  the  high-pressure  engine  has  been  heard  amid 
the  sombre  forests  on  the  banks  of  those  mighty 
streams  which  flow  down  from  the  Rocky  Mountains 
to  join  the  "  Father  of  Waters,' '  or  that  every  day 
the  Maid  of  the  Mist  steams  under  the  Falls  ol 
Niagara. 

Feelings  too  varied  to  be  described  have  crossed 
my  mind  when,  standing  on  the  deck  of  power- 
ful vessels,  I  looked  on  the  Plains  of  Marathon 
and  Troy,  passed  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis, 
awakened  the  echoes  of  that  sublime  lake  on 
whose  sliores  William  Tell  swore  to  set  free  his 
country,  disturbed  the  countless  herds  which 
graze  on  the  banks  of  the  sunny  Guadalquiver, 
beheld  the  icebergs  w^iich  at  certain  seasons  stud  the 
Atlantic  oif  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  and  rapidly 
shot  past  town  after  town  on  the  rivers  of  those 
Western  American  States,  where  only  a  few  years 
ago  tlic  lied  Indian  smoked  w^th  the  treacherous 
pale-faces  the  pipe  of  peace.  If  we  wish,  however, 
to  understand  the  greatness  of  the  revolution  which 
steam-ships  are  effecting,  Ave  must  go  still  further 
away  from  home;  we  must  visit  the  valley  of  the 

b2 


-i  THE   TAOrS   AND   THE   TIBER. 

^ttcnuBMtito.  st.intl  on  the  slopes  of  the  Cordilleras, 
liia*a<l  our  way  auionirst  the  islands  whieh  stud  the 
On!f  nf  Mexico  and  the  Indian  Archi|>elago,  Ixjhold 
tin*  Keii  8i»a  from  the  base  of  8inai,  and  sail  along 
the  stomiycoa^t  of  China  from  Canton  to  Shanghai. 
In  «  few  years  all  parts  of  this  earth  on  which  we 
f^wdi  will  be  brought  near  to  each  other  by  means 
of  that  motive  ]>«nver  for  whieh  the  advocates  of 
|jruj^v>s  iuvve  to  thank  the  genius  of  Watt. 

Fourtei^n  years  only  have  rolled  over  our  heads 
since  Lieutenant  Roberts  in  the  Sin'us  silenced, 
bv  hi>  triumphant  arrival  at  New  York,  those 
scepticai  writei-s  who  in  reviews  and  magazines  had 
been  demonstrating  the  impracticability  of  ocean 
steam-na\  igation  ;  yet  now  we  have  regular  mail 
?tr-»inpr<  to  places  far  more  distant,  and  men  take 
ti  -  to  Valparaiso,   Buenos  Ayres,  and 

Capetown,  in  the  fidl  assurance  that  neither  calms 
nor  temjx'sts  will  prevent  them  from  duly  reach- 
ing their  destination.  Vast  are  the  changes  which 
have  been  alaady  ])nxluced  by  this  expeditious 
nunie  of  locomotion  ;  but  the  present  generation 
cannot  fully  estimate  the  results  of  its  agency. 
Pctsteniy  will  a}>preciate  the  magnitude  of  the  revo- 


I 


SOUTHAMPTON.  5 

lution,  when  commerce  and  the  steam-engine  shall 
have  developed  the  resources  of  countries  isolated 
as  China,  unpeopled  as  those  wide  plains  through 
which  flow  the  Uruguay  and  the  Parana,  and 
barbarous  as  that  forlorn  Africa,  which  has  so  long 
been  the  nursery  of  creatures  doomed  to  slavery. 

No  thoughtful  man  can  avoid  meditating  on 
these  things,  when  travelling  by  steam  to  foreign 
lands,  formerly  beyond  the  reach  of  the  summer 
tourist.  Every  vessel  built  to  connect  one  clime 
with  another  is  a  messenger  of  concord,  a  real 
agent  of  civilization,  an  able  exponent  of  the  bless- 
ings of  commercial  freedom,  a  forerunner  of  the 
time  when  men  shall  live  as  brothers,  cultivating 
the  arts  of  peace. 

Many  of  my  readers  have  witnessed  the  scene 
on  the  quay  of  a  seaport  just  before  the  departure 
of  an  outward-bound  mail  steamer, — the  leave- 
takings  and  looks  of  sadness,  the  scuffle  for  port- 
manteaus and  hat-boxes,  the  anxious  countenances 
of  bad  sailors,  and  the  attitudes  of  indifference 
assumed  by  those  who  have  become  inured  to  the 
discomforts  of  a  voyage.  The  seventeenth  day 
of  each  month  is  a   busy  one  at    Southampton  ; 


6 


THE   TAGl'S   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ku  vii  It   two  packets  leave  the  docks  for  foreign 

OMmlneA,  one  for  the  West  Indies,  the  other  for  the 

^musuuL     Many  fathoms  deep  below  the  waves 

in  the  Straits  of  Malacca  lies  the  steamer  on  the 

4edLot  wiuch  I  stix>d  in  September  1850,  bound 

for  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  little  did  our  attentive 

Captain  Weeks  then  suppose  that  in  a  few  months 

aftorwAPil*.  and    in    a  distant  part  of  the  world, 

Ike   Pfh^j.  under    other    oflScers,   would    become 

the  victim  of  a  terrible  collision,  and  carry  down 

wiili  her  several  hapless  sufferers. 

Very  different  was  the  scene  on  her  deck  on 
that  memorable  niglit  when  the  Enn  struck  her, 
frvm    that   which   presented   itself  to  me   in  the 
dock    at    Southampton.      I  mixed    indeed    with 
a  crowd;  but  one  composed  of  pleasure-seeking 
pMKi^TS  like  myself, — merchants    returning  to 
tiwir   homes,  whose  occupation  for   the    moment 
was    inspecting     cabins,     calling    for     luggage, 
remonstrating:     with      stewards      and     disputing 
with    the    bearers    of     their     baggage. — invalids 
with  pale  faces,  bound  for  Malaga  and  Cadiz, — 
Portuguese  noblemen,  supporters  of  Don  Migiiel,  on 
their  wav  back  to  Lisbon,  and  their  female  relations, 


\ 


THE   PACHA.  ' 

whose  manners  did  not  agreeably  impress  their 
fellow-travellers.    Then  we  had  also  on  board,  a 
Brazilian  slave-dealer  from  Pernambuco,  a  loqua- 
cious Jewess  who  hailed  from  London,  a  young 
officer  of  the  garrison  at  Gibraltar  and  his  lady, 
the  excellent  chaplain  to  the  convicts  at  that  station, 
and  various  others,  no  fewer  than  seventy-eight 
passengers  being  crowded  into   a  small   steamer, 
which  would  have  been  well  filled  with  half  that 

number. 

As  the  hour  of  sailing  approached,  the  "  din  " 

on  the  quarter-deck  increased  rather  than  abated  : 

relatives     rapidly     exchanged    parting     sayings, 

—sailors    hurried    about    in    the    execution    of 

their  orders,— a  stream   of    people   passed   and 

repassed  constantly  along  the  planks  connecting 

the  vessel  with  the  quay,  and  those  unfortunates 

who  gave  themselves  uneasiness  about  berths  and 

baggage,  in  vain  expostulated  with  busy  stewards 

and  porters  clamouring  for  higher  remuneration. 

But  such  moments,  like  others  of  more  importance, 

have  an  end  ;  and  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the 

London  mail  train,  the  Admiralty  agent  reported 

himself  ready,  the  bell  warned  loving  friends  to  go 


8 


THE    TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ashore,  the  captain  mounted  the  paddle-box,  and 
away  went  the  Pacha  down  Southampton  Water, 
her  deck  presenting  an  animated  spectacle,  until  we 
reached  the  Needles  and  began  to  experience  the 
long  swell  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Nowhere  does  a  man  feel  himself  to  be  more  on 
a  footing  of  equality  with  his  fellows  than  on  board 
a  steamer.  The  admirers  of  despotism,  of  aris- 
tocracy, of  rank  and  privileges,  must  conform  to 
the  laws  of  that  virtual  republic.  "  Liherte,  Igalite, 
frat^rnite''  are  words  which  would  be  much  more 
suitably  painted  above  a  cabin  entrance,  as  far  as 
the  j>a^engers  are  concerned,  than  above  the  doors 
of  public  buildings  in  that  '*  free"  country,  where  so 
many  editors  of  newspapers  are  in  gaol,  and  so  much 
power  is  given  to  military  officers.  The  dinner- 
bell  rings,  and  we  all  scramble  for  the  best  places 
at  table;  the '*  Duke  "  is  nearly  knocked  down 
stairs  by  a  shopkeeper;  the  "  Marquis  "  rubs 
shoulders  with  a  commercial  traveller.  What  care 
I  for  the  dignitaries?  I  have  paid  as  much  for  my 
pMmge  as  either  of  them,  and  whatever  they  may 
be  ill  the  drawing-rooms  of  the  Necessidades,  or 
while  tnivelling  in  their  carriages  and  four,  they 


A   TRAVELLING   REPUBLIC,  U 

are  but  individual  members  of  the  democracy 
on  board  the  Pacha,  If  steam-vessels  are  pro- 
moting the  civilization  of  the  globe,  by  affording 
immensely  increased  facilities  for  locomotion,  they 
are  also  bringing  different  classes  in  society  more 
together,  and  compelling  the  "  high  and  mighty 
exclusives  "  of  all  nations  sometimes  at  least  to  de- 
scend from  their  unapproachable  loftiness,  and  asso- 
ciate on  equal  terms  with  their  fellow-men.  Now 
and  then,  indeed,  one  meets  an  ignorant  English 
lord,  or  a  moustachiod  German  potentate,  with  his 
button-holes  bedizened  with  orders,  who,  affecting 
to  despise  their  chance  company,  incur  the  ridicule 
of  all,  not  excepting  the  cabin-boys ;  but  our  gran- 
dees knew  the  world  better,  and  whilst  the  ladies 
of  their  parties  giggled  with  their  domestics,  they 
talked  like  rational  travellers  to  Tom,  Dick,  and 
Harry. 

"  Like  master  like  man,"  is  a  trite  saying:  but 
it  aptly  applies  to  the  economy  on  board  steamers. 
When  the  captain  combines  urbanity  with  atten- 
tion to  his  duties,  the  passengers  seldom  require  to 
complain  of  subordinates.  Fortunately  for  us,  we 
were  so  situated ;  else  the  overcrowded  state  of  the 

b3 


0 


TUE   TAOUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   BAY   OF   BISCAY. 


11 


cabins  would  have  rendered  the  vogage  in  no  small 
decree  di -agreeable.  This  remark  will  be  mider- 
stood  by  those  who  know  what  it  is  to  experience 
the  vulprar  *'  hauteur  "  of  men  who  imagine  the 
gilt  band  round  their  cap  to  l)e  a  badge  of  nobility, 
and  assume  airs  which,  however  despicable,  cannot 
well  be  tolerated  by  their  superiors  in  education 
and  mauncTS.  The  Directors  of  our  large  companies 
akonld  provide  for  their  vessels  commanders  who 
know  their  place  as  well  as  their  duties,  who  can 
lieliave  like  gentlemen  whilst  they  attend  to  their 
n>j>..n<ibilities  as  seamen. 

i'lic  tirst  wave  of  the  Atlantic!  How  suddenly 
it  changers  the  as^x^ci  ot  things  in  our  little  republic! 
Unple^wnt  recollections  cloud  faces  v.hich  a  few 
minuter  before  were  radiant  with  smilc:^;  and  still 
more  unpleasant  sensations  compel  those  to  leave 
the  table  who  have  not  been  inured  to  the  long 
tloadj  swell  of  the  ocean.  One  pale  face  after 
another  appears  on  the  deck,  all  equally  inconso- 
lable, glad  to  quit  the  noisy  company,  and  watch 
tlie   *  sea  in  loneliness  that  rolls." 

Ilow  helpless  and  foolish  a  man  feels  while  lying 
foe  a  day  or  two  in  a  narrow  berth,  unable  to  eat, 


sleep,  read,  or  think ;  leading  a  sort  of  vegetative  life, 
and  listening  to  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  boatswain, 

"  The  night  wind's  sigh,  the  breakers'  roar, 
And  the  shrieks  of  the  wild  seamew." 

Having  been  thus  humiliated  more  than  once 
previously,  I  could  not  expect,  nor  was  I  permit- 
ted, to  escape  in  ''  Biscay's  sleepless  bay."     The 
wind  having  veered  round  to  bloAV  from  south- 
south-west,  and  the  Pacha,  like  several  other  boats 
belonging  to  the  same  company,  being  in  nowise 
renoAVTied  for  her  sailing  qualities,  we  made  but 
slow  progress.     It  w^as  the  forenoon  of  the  third 
day   before  we  came  in  sight   of  Cape  Ortegal ; 
Ferrol  and  Corunna  remained  long  in  sight,  and 
the  "  hand  of  eve,"   as  Coleridge  hath  it,  "  had 
nearly  closed  the  western  bars,"  when  we  met  the 
Erin,  (fortunately  not  in  such  close  quarters  as  the 
two   ships   afterwards  came  to   in  the   Straits  of 
Malacca,)  steaming  under  the  bare  gloomy  cliffs  of 
Cape  Finisterre.     Dark  and  threatening  was  the 
sky  in  the  direction  of  the  Bay  of  Vigo ;  we  ex- 
pected a  hun-icane,  but  the  clouds  broke  in  a  storm 
of  heavy  rain,  and  darkness  (^ame  on  apace.    Very 
early  in  the  morning   the   motion  of   the  vessel 
under^vent  a  change ;  it  was  evident  that  we  had 


li 


THE    TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


MORNINCf   AT   VIGO. 


13 


got  into  calm  water,  and  soon  aftei-wards  the  noise 
of  the  paddles  ceased,  and  no  sound  but  tlie  strik- 
ing of  the  hours  broke  the  silence. 

The  sun  was  just  beginning  to  tinge  with  red 
the  to|v;  of  the  hills,  the  church  bells  were  tolling 
for  matui  worship,  and  boats  had  put  off  from  the 
shore  to  board  us,  when  I  got  on  deck  in  time  to 
accomi>any  the  steward,  who  was  in  search  of  fruit 
and  fresh  pn>visions,  to  the  Spanish  town  of  Vigo. 
This  pictures<|ue  little    place    stands   on  a  rocky 
promontory,  projecting  into  a  spacious  bay,  which 
is  blinded  on  three  sides  by  lofty  hills,  and  pro- 
tected    '^  the  fourth  by  two  bold  rocks  from  the 
Atlantic  billows.     Dark  woods,  here  and  tliere  cut 
down  to  make   way  for   cottages   and  vineyards, 
occupv  the  slopes  of  the  mountains,  which  above 
ikeni    rear    their    bare,    grey    crags,    destitute    of 
any  species  of  vegetation.     1  had  scarcely  landed 
on  the  rude  quay  of  Vigo  before  its  resemblance  to 
Sjra,  in  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  struck  me,  and 
as  I  proceeded,  there  were  the  same  steep  badly 
pav<-'l   -tit-eta,  the  diminutive  squares,  the  donkeys 
laden  with  produce,  the  festoons  of  grapes  hanging 
over  the  courts,  and   the   half-naked   men  on  the 
>r-steps.     During  my  walk  up  to  the   brow  of 


the  hill  on  which  the  town  is  built,  I  met  the 
peasants  bringing  to  market  their  apples,  melons 
and  vegetables— fine  handsome  men,  and  women 
with  piercing  eyes.     The  view  from  this  elevation 
was  splendid,  resembling  that  which  travellers  in 
the  Highlands  of  Scotland  now  and  then  obtain  of 
the  lakes,  which  add  so  much  to  the  beauty  of  that 
country's  scenery.     The  mists  of  the  morning  were 
still  nestling  on  the  summits  of  the  hills,  and  par- 
tially obscuring  the  lonely  glens  which  led  inland 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach;  large  boats  crowded 
with  people,   and  impelled  by  lateen  sails,  were 
crossing  to  the  villages  on  the  other  side  of  the 
bay,  and  the  steep  pathways  leading  to  the  town 
were  covered  with  small  horses  and  donkeys  bear- 
ing agi-icultural  produce,  w^hile  troops  of  soldiers 
lazily  reclined  below  the  willow-trees  on  the  pro- 
menade ground.     Our  steward  having  secured  half 
an  ox  and  a  supply  of  milk,  with  loads  of  fruit  and 
vegetables,  we  put  off  again  to  the  steamer  in  a 
lilthy  boat,  manned  by  scantily  clad  men. 

At  eight  o'clock  we  lifted  our  anchor,  and 
steamed  rapidly  out  to  sea ;  but  scarcely  had  got 
beyond  the  islands,  when  the   swell  again  forced 


14 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


me  to  lay  down  my  head  and  content  myself 
with  a  passing  peep  of  tlie  picturesque  coast  of 
Galicia,  with  its  bold  mountains  and  white    vil- 


Beyond  Bayona,  the  last  place  in  Spain,  sand- 
hills and  breakers  marked  the  mouths,  first  of  the 
Minho,  then  of  the  Lima,  and  soon  after  diimer 
we  arrired  off  the  bar  of  the  Douro,  and  three 
mile^i  inland  saw  the  houses  and  spires  of  Oporto. 
No  ship  can  take  the  entrance  to  this  river  after 
a  prevalence  of  westerly  gales ;  frequently,  vessels 
have  to  stand  off  and  on  for  weeks  before  they  gain 
admittance  to  load  their  casks  of  port  wine.  The 
surf  was  dashing  furiously  over  the  rocks  and 
sandbanks  when  a  large  boat  came  out  to  receive 
the  passengers  bound  for  the  city.  What  a  scene 
did  that  disembarkation  present !  Ladies,  trunks 
and  merchandise  had  to  l)e  huiTied  into  the  boat, 
as  each  successive  wave  for  a  moment  brought  it 
on  a  level  with  the  last  step  of  the  gangway.  So 
majestic  was  the  roll  of  the  sea,  that  the  next 
moment,  the  frail  craft  lay  far  down  beneath  us  in 
the  trough  between  two  stupendous  billows. 

Early  next  morning  the  wind  freshened  to  a 


MOUTH   OF   THE   TAGUS. 


15 


gale,  and  we  were  not  a  little  disconcerted  to  hear 
that  the  log  showed  only  four  knots  an  hour.     We 
had  made  up  our  minds  to  reach  Lisbon  in  the 
afternoon ;  while  now  the  officers  mentioned  mid- 
night as  the  probable  hour  of  our  arrival.     These 
disheartening  reports  increased  the  dreariness  of 
the  sounds  on  deck,  the  whistling  of  the  wind,  the 
creaking  of  the  timbers,  and  the  pattering  of  the 
big  rain  drops,  as  Tasso  says  :— 

"  La  pioggia  ai  gridi,  ai  venti,  ai  tuon  s'  accorda 
Horribile  aniionia  che  il  mondo  assorda." 

When  1  got  on  deck  tlie  ship  pitched  so  violently 
that  ''  Cintra's  glorious  Eden  "  appeared  at  one  time 
like  a  village  in  the  clouds,  at  another  sunk  in  an 
almost  hidden  valley,  far  below  the  keel  of  the 
Pax:ha.      Just   as  daylight  left  us  and  the  moon 
rose  in  all  her  southern  glory,  "bathing  in  rich 
amber  light"  a  fearful  bar,  over  which  the  breakers 
broke  in  hills  of  foam,  we  escaped  from  the  roll- 
ing billows  and  entered  the  placid  waters  of  the 
Tagus.    ''  Beautiful  is  the  moonlight  of  the  south ! 
In  those  climes  the  night  so  quickly  glides  into  the 
day,  that  twilight  scarcely  makes  a  bridge  between 
them.     One  moment  of  darker  purple  in  the  sky, 


16 


THE   TAOUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ARRIVAL   AT   LISBON. 


17 


n 


of  a  thousand  rose-hues  in  the  water,  of  shade  half 
victorious  over  light ;  and  then  burst  forth  at  once 
the  countless  stars — the  moon  is  up.  Night  has 
resumed  her  reign."  Thus  writes  Sir  E.  Bulwer 
Lytton  in  tlie  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  and  well 
do  his  words  apply  to  that  beautiful  night  on  whicli 
we  stopped  off  Belem  Castle  to  land  our  dukes 
and  duchesses.  Those  who  have  witnessed  a 
nigger  merrymaking  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  may  form  some  idea  of  the  shouts, 
screams,  laughs,  whistles,  and  yells  with  whicli 
the  friends  and  domestics  in  the  boats  welcomed  our 
nobility  back  to  the  shores  of  Portugal.  Gladly 
we  heard  the  order  given,  "  Go  on  ahead  !"  when 
steadily  the  Pacha  moved  up  the  noble  river, — on 
the  right  the  cliffs  of  Alemtejo  glistening  in  the 
moonbeams,  and  on  the  left  the  sparkling  of  innu- 
merable lights  denoting  the  presence  of  Lisbon. 
Having  delivered  the  letters  for  the  British 
squadron  to  a  boat  from  the  Prince  Regent^  at  ten 
«)*clock  we  anchored  off  the  custom-house  of  the 
ancient  city. 

When  a  man  has  for  several  days  been  *'  cribbed, 
cabined,  and  confined  "   in  a  crowded  packet,  he 


not  unfrequently  for  some  time  after  landing  feels 
unable  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  imperceptible 
motion  of  terra  firma.  The  earth  seems  to  jerk  on 
its  axis :  he  walks  the  streets  as  one  inebriated, 
and  awakening  from  disturbed  slumbers  he  fancies 
his  couch  to  rise  and  fall  like  a  sea-fowl  on  the 

billow. 

Neither  the  exercise  attendant  on  sight-seeing, 
the  society  of  agreeable  friends,  nor  the  comforts 
of  M.  Durand's  hotel,  could  deliver  me  from  the 
mastery  of  this   sensation  for   a   week   after   my 
disembarkation.     Can  any  person  skilful  in  calcu- 
lation inform  me  by  what  means  the  hotel-keepers 
of  the  Portuguese  capital  contrive  to  support  exist- 
ence ?     There  being  no  roads  in  the  country,  and, 
consequently,  no    public    conveyances,    the    only 
strangers  that  bring    them    custom  are  those  who 
arrive    by   the    trimonthly  packets,    either    from 
Gibraltar  or  England,  and    the    adventurous  few 
who,  despising  comforts,  choose  to  ride  across  the 
country  from  ^Madrid  by  Elvas  and  Badajos. 

Next  door  to  our  comfortable  abode,  built  on  a 
height  overlooking  "expanded  Tagus,  with  its 
populous  shores,"  and  by  far  the  most  imposing 


\ 


THE   CUSTOM-HOUSE. 


19 


18 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


mansion  in  the  city,  stood  the  Braganza  Hotel, 
tenanted  during  our  stay  by  an  En.G:lish  barrister, 
one  of  our  feUow-passengers,   an  officer  and   his 
wife,  and  a  well-known  individual  who  never  pays, 
but  who  calls  himself  Plantagenet,  and  heir  to  the 
throne  of  Britain.    The  above  parties  and  ourselves 
seemed  to  be  all  the  strangers  in  Lisbon,  yet  we 
paid  no  exorbitant  bills,  heard  no  complaints  of 
poverty  on  the  part  of  our  entertainers.     I  recom- 
mend this  state  of  things  to  the  earnest  considera- 
tion of  those  potent  inaitres  dliotel,  who  dine  their 
hundreds   per   diem    in    Switzerland   and  on   the 
Rhine.     Mine  host  of  the  Hotel  des  Bergues,  or 
you  of  the  Trois  Couronnes,  how  can  your  brethren 
at  Lisbon  make  the  two  ends  meet  ? 

Waiting  for  your  luggage  at  the  custom-house 
of  that   place   is    like   waiting  for  a   prize  at   a 
lottery.     When  you  feel  certain   that  your   turn 
must   come   next,   another   steps    in    before   you. 
Venturing    my  head    into    the    closed    chamber, 
I  perceived  one   searcher  engaged  in  ransacking 
trunks   without   number,   so    I    commended    my 
baggage  to  the  care  of  those  who  knew  better  the 
ways  of  the  place.     In  a  comer  of  this  apartment 


I 


was  our  friend  the  Jewess,  exhorting  the  official  to 
be  careful  in  opening  the  box  belonging  to  her 
man-servant,   who    liad    been    unfortunately  left 
behind  in  England.     Conceive  the  astonishment 
of  mistress   and  officer  when   John's   trunk  was 
found  to  contain  nothing  but  stones.    The  faithless 
one  had  broken  his  engagement,  and  thus  deluded 
the  lady  into  the  belief  that  all  his  worldly  property 
remained  as  a  pledge  in  her  safe  keeping.     Apart, 
however,   from   the   recollections   of  this   tedious 
process,  few  sights  in  Lisbon  will  better  repay  a 
visit  than  the  vast  rooms  and  bonded  warehouses 
attached  to  its  custom-house.     They  are  on  a  scale 
suitable,  not  to  the  petty  government  of  Queen 
Maria,  but  to  the  wants  of  a  country  which,  when 
navigation  was  in   its    infancy,    sent    its    navies 
round  the  southern  point  of  Africa  and  conquered 
Brazil. 


i 


LISBON. 


21 


CHAPTER  11. 

SITUATION  AND  BUILDINGS  OF  LISBON — THE  AQUEDUCT — BELEM — 
PORTUGUESE  SOLDIERY  —  MEMENTOS  OF  THE  EARTHQUAKE  — 
NOISES  IN  THE  STREETS — STATE  PROCESSION  TO  THE  CHURCH 
OF  SANTA  VICENTE — THE  QUEEN — A  VILLA  IN  THE  COUNTRY — 
NOTES  ON  THE  NATION  AND  ITS  RULERS — WANT  OF  ROADS — 
ATTACHMENT  OF  THE  LOWER  CLASSES  TO  DON  MIGUEL — POLITICAL 
PARTIES  —  COSTA  CABRAL  —  ABOLITION  OF  THE  CONVENTUAL 
ORDERS — PROSPECTS   OF   PORTUGAL. 

Few  cities  afford  a  more  pleasing  panoramic  view 
than  the  capital  of  Portugal,  standing  as  it  does, 
on  undulating  ground,  on  the  northern  shore  of  a 
broad  estuary.  The  newest  and  handsomest  build- 
ings occupy  a  valley  between  two  hilly  ridges. 
You  land  at  a  quay  forming  the  southern  side  of 
Black-horse  Square,  an  extensive  open  space,  so 
called  from  an  equestrian  statue  of  King  John 
erected  in  its  centre,  and  flanked  by  the  government 
offices.  An  archway  leads  from  this  Plaza  into  a 
regularly  built  street,  which  in  its  turn  opens  into 


I 


the  Square  of  Don  Pedro,  ornamented  by  a  hand- 
some theatre.  A  short  distance  beyond,  you  arrive 
at  the  public  gardens,  conducting  to  the  northern 

suburbs. 

As   you  pursue  this  route   from   the   river  in- 
land,   a  hill-slope  covered  with  houses  overlooks 
you  on  the  left,  and  on  the  right  a  similar  ridge 
crowned  by  the  castle,  and  boasting   likewise  of 
the   cathedral.      Around   this    hill    you   find  the 
dirtiest  part  of  the  city,— a  filthy  enough  quarter 
truly ;  but  I  do  not  by  any  means  agree  with  those 
who  talk  of  Lisbon  in  general  as  remarkably  un- 
clean.    It  may  claim  to  be  a  garden  of  roses  in 
comparison  with  Trieste,  Marseilles,  and  the  back 
streets   of  Naples.     Between  the   castle  and  the 
river  are  the   wharves   for  unloading  boats  with 
country   produce,    the    markets,    the    government 
foundry,    the   marine  liospital   and   several   large 
prisons.     The  opposite  rising  ground  constitutes  a 
healthier  and  more  elegant  part  of  the  city.     The 
road  to  Belem  runs  between  it  and  the  Tagus,  and 
on  either  side  of  it  stand  the  mansions  of  the  no- 
bility, extensive  but  imsightly  erections.     These 
nobles  nearly   all   live   in   Lisbon,   scarcely   ever 


,^  ^iMi^ssiS^-^^w*  ^ 


22 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBEK. 


BUILDINGS. 


23 


ii  j 

M     i 


visiting  their  estates,  and  therefore  being  of  little 
benelit  to  the  country.    The  cats  of  the  Portuguese 
capital,  like  the  dogs  of  Constantinople,  swarm  in 
every  street;  and  curious  looking  animals  they  are, 
with  their  slate-coloured  skins,  short  hair  and  crop- 
ped ears.     They  seem  to  prowl  about  as  hyenas  in 
the  tropics,  doing  the  work  of  public  scavengers, 
— functionaries  belonging  to  a  state  of  civilization 
not  yet  reached  by  that  people  which  first  disco- 
vered the  marine  road  to  India.     Many  portions  ot 
the  city  seem  partially  deserted,  and  you  frequently 
come  upon  ruins,  mementos  of  the  great  earthquake. 
Those  of  a  large  convent  crown  the  height  opposite 
to  the  castle.  In  other  directions  a  few  more  build- 
ings are  in  process,  but  the  population  does  not 
increase.     Since  the   suppression  of  the  religious 
orders  in  183.3,  their  monasteries  have  been  con- 
verted   into   parish   churches;    but    certainly   the 
priests  do  not  appear  to  be  in  excess.  I  walked  about 
the  streets  for  two  days  before  seeing  one.     Such 
a  fact  as  this  may  serve,  when  compared  with  the 
state  of  things  in  Naples,  Rome,  Bologna,  Antwerp, 
Bruges,  Cologne,  or  even  Vienna,  to  illustrate  the 
Catholicism   of  Portugal. 


The  lower  classes  in  Lisbon  can  boast  neither  of 
good  looks   nor  cleanliness;    they  are  said  to  be 
somewhat  lazy  withal.     Wine    and    spirit    shops 
abound;  but  no  man  can  say  that  drunkenness  is  a 
national  vice,  the  liquors  being  weak,  and  the  heat 
of  the  climate  sometimes  excessive.     You  seldom 
indeed  meet  a  Portuguese,— to  borrow  a  distinction 
from  the  loquacious  laird  of  TuUy  Veolan,  either 
"  ebrii  orebrioli,  intoxicated  or  half-seas  over."     It 
is  reserved  for  the  inhabitants  of  a  country  claim- 
ing to  be  the  most  religious  in  the  world,  as  Shak- 
speare  says  in  Othello,  *'  to  put  an  enemy  in  their 
mouths  to  steal  away  their  brains,  with  joy,  revel, 
pleasure    and   applause,  to   transform    themselves 
into  beasts!" 

Every  house  of  any  size  in  the  city  has  its 
little  garden,  or  rather  grape-terrace,  the  vines 
being  trained  on  trellis-work,  and  bearing  loads  of 
fruit.  The  produce  from  the  country  comes  in  on 
the  backs  of  mules,  in  enormous  panniers  of  plaited 
willows,  between  which  the  driver  sits,  urging  on 
his  burdened  animal.  I  should  like  to  transport 
one  of  the  smart  London  "  w^hips  "  to  Lisbon,  and 
show  him  a  street  cab  in  that  antiquated  capital, 
consisting  of  a  rude,  unwieldy  vehicle,  hung  by 


>c~.*',^  Ii»tw'*;ff-=*j. «*■'-« "w  * 


irm«mM^mmmmi^isiumfii 


ti 


24 


THE   TAG  US   AND   THE   TIBER. 


means  of  great  leathern  straps  on  two  i)onclerou3 
wheels.  A  little  horse  draws  in  the  shafts,  whilst 
a  postilion  rides  another  animal  attached  on  the 
near  side  by  traces  to  the  conveyance.  All  the 
horses,  whether  in  carriages,  hackney  coaches,  or 
belonging  to  the  military,  are  small,  slight-boned, 
wiry  beasts,  of  no  great  strength,  but  remarkable 
for  their  powers  of  endurance. 

The  hrst  question  asked  of  a  stranger  in  Lisbon 
is,  "  Have  you  seen  the  aqueduct?"     The  citizens 
firmly  believe  that  no  such  work  has  ever  been 
erected  since  David  cut  down  cedars  in  Lebanon 
to  build  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.     To  doubt  this 
is  to  incur  the  charge  of  heresy ;  to  suggest  that 
the  railway  companies  in  Britain  have  constructed 
several  bridges  about  twice  as  high  and  consider- 
ably longer,  is  to  lay  yourself  open  to  a  suspicion 
of  attempting  to  impose  upon  your  friends  in  less 
energetic  countries.     The  '>vater  which  supplies  the 
city  comes  in  a  gallery  or  wide  drain  of  stone,  all 
the  way  from   the  Cintra   hills,   seventeen   miles 
distant,  and   crosses    the  valley  immediately  ad- 
joining the  reservoir  on  lofty  arches,  the  wonder 
and  boast  of  Portugal.     I  freely  admit  that  such  a 
work    may  well  be   deemed   extraordinary  by  a 


I' 


BELEM. 


25 


people  who  have  not  one  single  road  in  their  terri- 
tory from  the  Minho  to  Cape  St.  Vincent. 

From  the  top  of  the  great  cistern,  a  fine  view 
may  be  had  of  the  surrounding  country.   We  drove 
out  there  one  evening  to  enjoy  it.      At  our  feet 
were  the  palaces  of  the  Duke  of  Palmella  and  the 
Marquis  of  Yiana,  on  our  right  the  English  and 
Portuguese    cemeteries    and    the   handsome    new 
regal  abode  above  Belem,  now  building,  but  with 
little  prospect  of  ever  being  completed ;  behind  it 
stretched  a  bare  corn  country  destitute  of  trees, 
hedges,  or  any  green  thing  ;  before  us  lay  the  city, 
bounded  by  the  noble  Tagus,  with  its  fleet  of  mer- 
chant ships  and  men-of-war,  and  across  its  waters 
the  plain  of  Alemtejo,  conspicuous  amongst  whose 
hills  rose  the  rocky  crest  of  Palmella  overlooking 
the  sea-port  of  St.  Ubes.    The  road  between  the 
water- works  and  the  hospital,   or  charity  school - 
like  building  where  dwells  Queen  Maria,  would 
be  reckoned  in  England  undeserving  of  the  name  ; 
an  English  coachman  would  not  allow  his  horses 
to  venture  upon  it;  yet  we   had   no    alternative 
but  to  encounter  its  chasms  in  order  to  continue 
our  drive    to  the   bathing- village    of  Belem,   the 
VOL.  I.  C 


UIl 


26 


THE  TAOrS   AND   THE   TIBEK. 


evening  resort  of  the  pent-up  shopkeepers.  In  its 
square  stands  a  noble  old  church  with  vast  con- 
ventual buildings  attached,  the  same  in  which 
Vasco  di  Gama  slept  the  night  before  he  embarked 
on  that  famous  voyage,  which  resulted  in  one  of 
the  most  memorable  discoveries  in  the  annals  of 
medieval  Europe. 

I  was  agreeably  sui^irised  wnth  the  Portuguese 
soldierj^  especially  the  light  troops  and  the  en- 
gineers. The  regiments  of  the  line  wear  white 
trowsers  and  dark-blue  coats  with  yellow  and 
light-blue  facings;  the  artillery  have  a  darker 
uniform,  with  more  ornament.  Every  man  has  his 
clothes  made  to  fit  him,  consequently  he  looks 
smarter  than  the  British  private,  whose  regimentals 
are  shaped  to  suit  any  one.  The  soldiers  are 
beautifully  clean  in  their  attire,  have  generally 
speaking  a  good  carriage,  and  can  show  weapons 
kept  in  unexceptionable  order.  If  not  invincible 
on  the  field  of  battle,  they  appear  fine  fellows  on 
the  parade  ground. 

The  women  in  Lisbon  wear  on  their  heads  a 
plain  muslin  kerchief,  folded  in  a  three-cornered 
shape;    many   of    the   ladies    have    adopted    the 


f 


t 


i  I 


LOTTERY   OFFICES. 


27 


Spanish  mantilla.  There  is  a  great  admixture  of 
Moorish  blood  in  the  lower  population,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  suburbs  have  no  enviable  repu- 
tation for  rectitude  or  morality.  They  require  tlie 
presence  of  a  strong  police.  In  several  parts  of 
the  city,  and  especially  near  our  hotel,  the  ruins 
left  standing  by  the  fearful  earthquake  of  1755 
are  visible,  rising  amongst  the  wliite  houses  to 
bear  witness  to  the  instability  of  all  human  things. 
These  w\ills  appear  to  be  chiefly  those  of  churches 
and  convents,  which  have  been  permitted  to  re- 
main in  the  same  desolate  condition  as  that  to 
which  they  were  reduced  by  the  rolling  earth, 
while  houses  and  shops  have  risen  statelier  than 
ever  from  the  scene  of  the  teiTible  catastrophe. 

The  number  of  lottery  offices  in  Lisbon,  as  in 
many  other  cities  of  southern  Europe,  arrests  the 
attention  of  a  traveller  coming  from  a  country 
where  the  demoralizing  practice  has  been  so  long 
abolished.  The  shops  of  jewellers  and  money- 
changers alone  appear  to  be  more  numerous.  A 
person  with  delicate  organs  of  hearing  would  not 
consider  it  a  pleasant  residence,  for  night  and  day 
the  streets  resound  with  cries  of  all  descriptions 

c  2 


28 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   QUEEN. 


29 


not,  liowevcr,  quite  so  shrill  as  those  which  startle 
the  stranger  rambling  along  the  Strada  Toledo  of 
Naples.  The  gingling  of  the  cabs,  which  rattle 
over  the  stones  at  top  speed,  certainly  does  not 
render  these  noises  more  melodious.  In  every  part 
of  the  city  the  churches  shut  at  an  early  hour, 
the  people  being  by  no  means  devotional  in  their 
habits. 

Very  early  one  morning  I  was  disturbed  by  the 
cannonading  from  the  castle  and  the  ships  of  war, 
in  commemoration  of  the  death  of  Don  Pedro, 
Duke  of  Braganza.  In  the  forenoon  the  queen,  her 
nobles,  and  principal  military  officers  attended,  in 
the  church  of  Santa  Vicente,  a  high  mass  for  the 
repose  of  the  aforesaid  illustrious  individual's  soul. 
Notwithstanding  a  somewhat  powerful  sun,  I 
stood  for  more  than  an  hour  watching  the  picked 
troops  who  marched  in  by  the  great  door  to  guard 
her  majesty.  There  were  companies  from  several 
regiments  of  the  line,  lancers,  sharpshooters,  artil- 
ler}'men,  engineers,  marines,  naval  cadets,  and 
national  guards,  all  well-dressed  good-looking  men. 
A  person  accustomed  to  see  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  regal  processions  in  the  great  capitals  of 


> 


Europe  would  have  been  not  a  little  surprised  at 
the  poverty-stricken  spectacle  afforded  by  the 
notables  of  Portugal,  as  they  passed  through 
Black-horse  Square,  on  their  return  from  this 
service.  The  queen  herself,  a  coarse-looking  over- 
grown woman,  with  an  unpleasing  but  not  ill- 
tempered  face,  drove  along  with  her  husband  in  a 
shabby  carriage  drawn  by  four  horses,  while  the 
courtiers  followed,  nearly  all  seated  in  the  rude 
cabriolets  of  the  country. 

As  a  wife  and  mother,  the  royal  lady  sets  an 
excellent  example  to  her  subjects;  but  a  certain 
degree  of  hauteur  in  her  manners,  blended  with  a 
natural  stubbornness  of  disposition,  detracts  very 
materially  from  her  popularity.  Her  consort,  a 
scion  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Saxe  Coburg  Gotha. 
seems  to  be  better  liked,  and  to  enjoy  the  esteem 
even  of  his  political  opponents. 

On  another  occasion  our  party  made  an  excur- 
sion to  lunch  at  a  villa  about  four  miles  up  the 
river,  belonging  to  a  friend.  The  house  stood  on 
a  height,  overlooking  on  one  hand  the  broad  Tagus 
and  the  plain  of  Alemtejo,  on  the  other  a  well- 
cultivated  valley,  covered  with  vegetable-garden:?, 


I 


' 


30 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


vineyards,  and  wheat-fields,  shaded  by  olive-trees. 
The  want  of  grass  gave  the  country  a  very  bare 
look,  and  in  point  of  beauty,  few  or  none  of  our 
forest  trees  would  not  be  considered  superior  to  the 
sombre  olive.  But  what  a  change  from  cold  Scot- 
land, to  a  climate  where  the  grapes,  figs,  and 
peaches  himg  in  clusters  over  the  pathway, — where 
the  labourer,  even  in  the  month  of  October,  re- 
joiced in  the  slightest  breeze  to  moderate  the 
Avarmth  of  the  atmosphere, — wdiere  the  gigantic 
Indian  corn  showed  its  ripe  clusters  in  tlie  fields, 
and  the  aloe  rose  in  full  fiower  above  every  hedge 
by  the  roadside !  How  prosperous  might  this 
country  become  if  inhabited  by  enterprising,  and 
ruled  by  honest  men ;  instead  of  those  w^hom 
Byron  stigmatises  as — 


"  A  nation  swoln  with  ignorance  and  pride." 

Then  might  the  Tagus  become  once  more  celebrated 
as  rolling  over  sands  of  gold.  At  present,  what 
use  do  the  Lusitanians  make  of  this  noble  stream  ? 
Not  a  canal  have  they  attempted  to  construct 
around  the  rapids  above  Abrantes ;  not  a  steamer 
plies  on  its  waters,  excepting  a  small  one  which 


WANT   OF    ROADS. 


31 


\ 


\ 


occasionally  goes  up  part  of  the  way  to  Santarem; 
the  greater  portion  of  the  province  of  Alemtejo  is 
as  flat  as  Lincolnshire,  and  yet  no  railroad  has  been 
made  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  interior,  and 
form  a  highway  into  Spain,  by  Evora  and  Badajos. 
Canals,  steamers  and   railroads!     What  am   I 
writing   about?     lloads    must   first  be   made    by 
Portugal   before   such  works   can  be  thought  of. 
What  a  disgTace  it  is  to  the  governors,  past  and 
present,  of  that  fallen  country,  that  even  in  this 
nineteenth   centmy, — a   century   which   has   seen 
the  old  stage-coach  abandoned  in  many  lands  for 
quicker  means  of  communication, — which  has  wit- 
nessed  an   electric   telegraph    carried    below    the 
Straits  of  Dover,  and  the  Pasha  of  Egypt  proposing 
to  lay  down  rails  in  the  land  of  Goshen, — in  an  era 
of  express  trains  hurrying  from  Berlin  to  Vienna, 
from  Paris  to  Brussels,  from  London  to  Edinburgh, 
from  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow,  there    is   not  a 
carriage-road  between  Lisbon  and  Oporto,  nor  m 
any  province  of  the  kingdom,  excepting  the  short 
distance  between  the  capital  and  Cintra !     As  long 
as  politics  continues  a  profession,  the  nation  which 
explored  the  Amazon  and  doubled  the  Cape  of 


32 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Good  Hope  will  remain  a  laughing-stock  to  civi- 
lized Europe.  Until  some  wise  and  stem  patriot 
arise  to  preach  repentance  to  a  set  of  avaricious 
courtiers,  Portugal  will  never  be  improved. 

With  a  fertile  soil,  fine  rivers,  a  delicious  climate, 
abundance  of  timber,  in  fact  every  element  of  pro- 
sperity, this  kingdom  continues  in  a  semi-barbarous 
state,  behind  every  other  European  nation  in  agri- 
culture, and  unable  to  support  its  reduced  population 
of  three  and  a  half  millions.  Productions  that  re- 
quire little  labour  you  find  plentiful,  such  as  oranges, 
vines,  chestnuts,  lemons,  onions  and  garlic  ;  but 
drains,  manures,  tolerable  ploughs,  and  other  ap- 
pliances of  an  industrious  race,  may  be  said  to  be 
unknown.  xVnd  even  although  great  crops  were 
raised,  how  could  they  be  brought  to  market? 
Such  an  absence  of  principle  marks  the  leading 
politicians,  that  as  soon  as  a  movement  in  the 
right  direction  is  made  by  the  government,  the 
opposition  make  of  it  a  handle  to  obtain  office  for 
themselves.  If  the  latter,  while  in  power,  propose 
to  expend  even  a  trifling  sum  in  effecting  some 
great  national  improvement,  the  former  raise  the 
cry  of  over  taxation;  a  crisis  ensues,  and  all  parties 


rOLlTICAL  PARTIES. 


3:^ 


forget  the  measure  in  the  struggle  for  power,  plaee, 
and  pecuniary  rewards. 

Were  there  a  single  question  regarding  which 
we  would  suppose  that  even  the  greedy  politicians 
of  Portugal  would  be  imanimous,  that  question  is, 
the  necessity  of  making  good  roads  throughout  the 
provinces ;  at  least  of  by  their  means  connecting  the 
cities  of  Lisbon,  Oporto,  Coimbra,  Elvas  and  Setu- 
val.  But  strange  to  say,  this  very  proposition  has 
overthrown  more  than  one  ministry,  and  seems  at 
present  as  far  from  being  adopted  as  when  Abu 
Ali  and  his  Moors  were  overthrown  by  Don  Alonzo 
on  the 'plains  of  Ourique. 

However  excellent  a  thing  constitutional  govern- 
ment may  theoretically  be, — however  necessary  for 
an  intelligent,  energetic,  industrious  population, — 
I  much  doubt  whether  it  has  proved  a  blessing  to 
benighted  Portugal.  The  people  take  no  interest 
either  in  the  elections  or  the  measures.  They 
leave  their  charter  as  a  plaything  in  the  hands  of 
court  cliques  and  needy  nobles,  whose  personal 
interests  command  a  preference  to  the  necessities 
of  the  state,— who,  like  the  horseleech,  continually 
cry  "  Give,  give,  give."     A  love  of  intrigue  and  a 

c  3 


i 


34 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


love  of  money  characterise  the  advisers  of  Donna 
Maria,  by  whatever  name  they  may  call  themselves ; 
when  one  man's  cup  of  dishonesty  is  full,  another 
man  assumes  the  reins,  and  he  in  his  turn,  laden 
with  spoil,  yields  to  some  petty  Pronunciamento 
headed  by  a  spendthrift  rival. 

These  changes  occur  too  frequently  to  excite 
much  speculation ;  the  Lusitanians  know  nothing 
of  a  character  like  that  so  eloquently  described  by 
Po[)e,  in  his  Prologue  to  Addison's  Cato, 

"A  brave  man  struggling  iu  the  storms  of  fate, 
And  gi-eatly  falling  with  a  falling  state.' 

The  wortli,  though  not  the  wisdom  or  enlighten- 
ment of  the  nation,  many  think,  and  with  good 
show  of  reason,  to  be  with  Don  ^liguel,  who, 
although  himself  a  perjured  tyrant,  still  commands 
the  homage  of  certain  classes,  as  the  representative 
of  olden  times,  Roman  Catholic  ascendency,  and 
priestly  power. 

All  the  crimes  and  cruelties  which  he  committed 
from  the  date  of  his  Lisbon  proclamation  in  1824, 
till  Leiria  surrendered  ten  years  afterwards,  have 
failed  to  convince  thousands  of  Portuguese  that  he 


POLITICAL   PARTIES. 


35 


would  not  rule  better  than  the  magnates  of  the 
present  day.  One  can  scarcely  wonder  at  sucii  a 
feeling,  considering  the  sample  which  the  people 
have  had  of  constitutional  government. 

The  present  political  state  of  this  unfortunate 
country  amply  attests  the  truth  of  a  remark  made 
by  a  recent  writer:  "Let  the  Humes  and  Montes- 
quieus,  the  Adam  Smiths  and  Benthams,  devise  the 
most  perfect  schemes,  there  will  always  be  plenty  to 
do  for  the  Chathams,  the  Mirabeaus,  the  Foxes  and 
Cannings;  for  man  is  not  a  merely  thinking  being, 
he  is  also  an  active  one ;  prone  to  the  adoption  of 
habits,  but  subject  to  the  domination  of  impulses. 
Government,  in  short,  requires  governors ;  a  self- 
evident  truism,  one  might  suppose,  if  the  learned 
and  ingenious  had  not  given  the  world  voluminous 
tomes  treating  the  government  of  the  human  race 
as  a  mere  matter  of  system." 

Portugal  cries  aloud  for  a  political  saviour,  an 
unflinching  patriot,  who,  deaf  to  the  cries  of  party 
and  the  whisperings  of  self-interest,  could  appeal 
to  the  nation  for  support,  and  take  for  his  standard 
him  whom  Byron  so  powerfully  describes  in  his 
Ode  to  Napoleon,  as  — 


I  i 


36  THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 

"  The  first,  the  last,  the  best, 
The  Cmcinnatiis  of  the  West, 
Whom  envy  dared  not  hate." 

When  1  was  in  Portugal,  Costa  Cabral,  Count 
of  Thomar  and  leader  of  the  Conservative  party, 
held  the  reins,  as  chief  minister  of  the  crown.    The 
Duke  of  Terceira,  formerly  well  known   as  Villa 
Flor,  commanded  the  forces,  the  Duke  of  Saldanha, 
the  head  of  the  Moderate  party,  having  been  dis- 
missed from  that  post.    A  third  and  more  republican 
party  exists  in  the  Cortes,  in  addition  to  the  still 
influential  Miguelite  faction.     These  extreme  sec- 
tions have  more  than  once  met  to  spite  the  Queen's 
favourite.     The  Junta  of  Oporto,  which  proclaimed 
war  in  1846,  and  were  defeated  by  Saldanha  at 
Torres  Vedras,  consisted  of  the  democratic  party, 
abetted  secretly  by  Don  Miguel's  friends.     Sa  da 
Bandeira  was  their  ruling  spirit.  They  complained 
of  the  road-tax,  the  impost  for  coroners'  inquests, 
and  the  Queen  choosing  obnoxious  ministers.  This 
rebellion  the  English,  French  and  Spanish  govern- 
ments ended  by  signing  a  protocol  in  London,  to 
the  effect  that  the  insurgents  must  lay  down  their 
arms,  and  that  Donna  Maria  must  dismiss  her  friend, 
Costa  Cabral.     These  conditions  were  at  the  time 


COSTA   CABRAL. 


37 


fulfilled,  but  in  1849,  that  chief  was  again  recalled 
to  the  royal  councils,  which  he  ruled  till  Saldanha's 
successful  revolution  in  1851.  My  servant  Antonio 
thought  that  there  was  only  one  manner  in  which 
this  incessant  squabbling  could  be  remedied,  and 
that  was  by  recalling  Don  ^liguel ;  but  then  An- 
tonio was  a  furious  partisan  of  that  exiled  prince, 
and  swore  dire  vengeance  against  the  cook  of  the 
Hotel,  who  professed  liberal  principles.  These 
pugnacious  worthies  had  occasionally  to  be  turned 
out  of  doors,  when  their  strife  assumed  a  serious 
aspect. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  the  sudden  abolition 
of  the  conventual  orders  by  the  constitutionalists 
of  the  Peninsula  was  an  ill-advised  measure. 
Without  by  any  means  disputing  the  statements, 
that  "  monastic  principles  and  institutions  have 
counterbalanced  all  the  temporal  advantages  of 
Christianity,"*  and  that  "  the  virtue  of  the  monks, 
under  the  influence  of  a  grovelling  superstition, 
lost  all  its  usefulness,!"  I  venture  to  remark 
that  these  orders  had  their  advantages  in  a  land 

*  Gibbon's  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire/*  vol.  ii. 
chap.  XV, 

t  Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  vol.  ii.  chap.  ix. 


*J 


38 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIHEK. 


PROSPECTS  OF   PORTUGAL. 


39 


i 


situated  like  Portugal.  One  of  the  most  profound 
writers  of  the  present  day,  a  man  whose  works 
stand  the  test  of  philosophical  inquiry,  has  truth- 
fully alluded  to  these  advantages  in  his  unequalled 
"  Natural  History  of  Enthusiasm."  They  will 
readily  occur  to  the  mind  of  those  who  have  care- 
fully studied  Church  History,  and  it  would  be  out 
of  place  to  discuss  them  here. 

That  the  evils  produced  by  the  monastic  system 
have  more  than  equalled  any  good  whicli  might  have 
resulted  from  them,  I  admit ;  but  in  destroying  in- 
stitutions which  had  existed  for  so  many  hundred 
years,  and  which,  right  or  wrong,  a  large  portion  of 
the  people  looked  on  with  respect,  every  wise  ruler 
would  have  exercised  caution.  Their  immediate  and 
hasty  abolition  was  an  act  of  political  injustice,  for 
most  of  the  inmates  had  bought  their  fellowships, 
and  were  as  much  entitled  to  enjoy  tliem,  or  an  equi- 
valent, for  life,  as  any  officer  of  the  crown  to  receive 
his  pension.  Had  a  law  been  passed  to  prevent  the 
monasteries  and  convents  from  receiving  accessions, 
in  a  very  few  years  they  would  have  ceased  to 
exist ;  the  country  would  have  been  relieved  from 
the  incubus  of  an  inactive,  useless  population,  and 


still  no  hardship  would  have  been  inflicted  on  any 
individual.     The  dislodged  monks,  as  it  is,  have 
become  pests  to  the  nation.     Unfitted  for  labour, 
they   have   fallen   down   into   the   substratum    of 
society,    wander    about    from    place    to  place    as 
beggars,  and  in  some   instances,  it  is  said,  have 
joined   the   bands   of  'banditti   which    infest    the 
Alemtcjo.    Such  inconsiderate  legislation  generally 
injures  a  good  cause.     The  miseries  of  these  men 
may  produce  a  revulsion  in  public  feeling,  and  pro- 
mote the  restoration  of  a  system,  which,  however 
well  adapted  to  the  case  of  such  divines  as  Basil 
of  Cesarea,  who  retired  from  the  world  during  the 
reign  of  Julian,  has  been  condemned  by  the  in- 
creasing intelligence  of  the  age.     If  bare-footed 
friars  again   lift   up  their  head  in    Portugal,    the 
liberals  may  blame  themselves,  not  the  adherents 
of  priestcraft. 

No  man  who  feels  an  interest  in  human  progress 
can  visit  this  country  without  deploring  its  political 
degradation.  Leaving  the  shores  of  England,  in  a 
few  days  he  is  transported  from  the  enteq^rise  of  the 
nineteenth  century  to  the  semi-barbarism  of  the 
ninth;    from  a  land  of  raikoads  and  telegraphs, 


40 


THE   TAGUb   AND   THE   TIBEU. 


Steam-engines  and  printing-presses,  to  a  land,  once 
high  in  influence  among  the  powers  of  Europe, 
but  in  which  there  is  yet  no  road!  Description  can 
scarcely  convey  to  an  enlightened  inhabitant  of  a 
free  country  a  true  idea  of  the  condition  in  which 
Portugal  remains  at  the  present  day.  Her  soil 
uncultivated,  her  trade  decaying,  her  people  dis- 
contented and  ignorant,  her  governors  scrambling 
for  influence  and  emolument,  while  the  true  end  of 
government  they  neglect :  without  manufactories, 
"without  money,  without  an  anchor  to  which  to 
trust,  she  is  drifting  down  the  stream  of  time 
an  abandoned  wreck,  though  once,  when  better 
manned,  she  proudly  breasted  the  billows.  May  we 
expect  to  see  the  dawning  of  a  brighter  future,  or  is 
Lusitania  to  proceed  from  one  degree  of  desolation 
to  another,  till  the  vineyards  of  Estremadura  and 
the  palaces  of  Lisbon  become  the  abodes  of  the 
wild  boars  and  still  wilder  men  which  dwell  in 
the  mountains  of  Algarve  and  by  the  banks  of  the 
Guadiana? 


CHAPTER  III. 


DEPARTURE  FOR  TORRES  VEDRAS — SINGULAR  MODE  OP  CONVEY- 
ANCE—A  HIGH-ROAD  IN  PORTUGAL — NOTES  ON  THE  APPEARANCE 
OP  THE  COUNTRY — TRAVELLING  AT  NIGHT — THE  POLE  STAR — 
SUDDEN  STOPPAGE — THE  VILLAGE  OF  TORRES  VEDRAS — SCENE 
IN  THE  INN — THE  LINES — VINEYARDS  IN  THE  VICINITY — WINES 
AND  THE  VINTAGE — A  GRAPE  WAREHOUSE — MAFRA — THE  PALACE 
—ITS  DESOLATION — ARRIVAL  AT  CINTRA — BEAUTY  OF  ITS  SITU- 
ATION— THE  CORK  CONVENT — THE  CLIFFS — COLHARES— MONT- 
SERRAT — THE  LA  PENA  CONVENT — VIEW  FROM  THE  SUMMIT  OF 
THE  ROCK — DONKEY-RIDES — DRESS  OF  THE  PEASANTRY*-THEIR 
POLITENESS  —  RETURN  TO  LISBON — THE  GALLEGOS  —  CACILHAS 
AND  JACKASS  BAY— PANORAMA  OF  THE  CITY— ENGLISH  SAILORS 
— THE  IBERIA — ARRIVAL   AT    CADIZ. 

Not  a  little  to  the  surprise  of  friends  who  thought 
the  plan  impracticable,  and  although  the  mule- 
path  or  track  along  which  the  route  lay  resembled 
in  many  places  the  bed  of  a  torrent,  compared  to 
whicli  the  stony  fields  were  smooth  as  a  race-course, 
our  party  resolved  to  adventure  a  journey  to  Torres 
Vedras  in  a  carriage  and  four.  After  the  usual 
amount  of  controversial  discussion  regarding  the 
cost  of  such  an  extraordinary  mode  of  conveyance, 


42 


THE   TAGUS    AND   TIIK   TIBER. 


NATURE   OF  THE   COUNTRY. 


43 


a  bargain  was  struck,  and  an  lioiir  fixed  for  start- 
ing next  morning.  About  two  hours  subsequent 
to  the  time  aforesaid,  (for  no  power  on  earth  can 
prevent  tlie  delays  exjxirienced  by  travellers  in  the 
south  of  Europe,)  a  rattling  noise  was  heard  in  the 
street,  and  an  apparition  appeared  before  our  hotel 
door,  in  the  shape  of  an  ornamented  box,  highly 
exalted  by  means  of  leathern  straps  on  wheels,  the 
workmanship  of  which  would  have  astonished  the 
denizens  of  Long  Acre.  I  doubt  if  such  a  vehicle 
would  not  have  l>een  thought  old-fashioned  in  the 
time  of  the  Tudors.  To  draw  this  venerable  rem- 
nant of  the  middle  ages  we  had  four  wiry  horses, 
guided  by  two  tall  postilions,  in  ponderous  boots 
and  sombreros.  On  the  woodwork  al)ove  the  fore 
axle,  holding  on  vigorously  by  ropes  attached  to 
the  massive  straps,  sat  Antonio,  a  loquacious  fel- 
low, who  had  been  an  officer's  servant  during  the 
Peninsular  War,  and  witnessed  Waterloo,  as  well 
as  Talavera,  Salamanca,  and  Torres  Yedras.  But 
Don  Miguel  was  the  hero  of  his  favourite  stories. 
He  lost  no  opportunity  of  declaring  that  the  very 
existence,  not  to  say  the  prosperity  of  Portugal, 
depended  on  the  restoration  of  the  usurj)er. 


Having  with  difficulty  clambered  up  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  so-called  carriage,  we  started  on  our 
excursion,  passing  first  through  the  dirty  suburbs, 
and  then  between  villas  with  lovely  gardens,  filled 
with  vines,  oranges,  lemons,  and  figs,  and  shaded 
by  taller  trees  from  a  powerful  sun.    To  them  suc- 
ceeded  a   valley,    formerly  the   property  of  Don 
Miguel,    and   still   displaying  ruined   houses  and 
broken-down   walls,    the    memorials    of    conflicts 
between  his    adherents  and  those  of  the   present 
queen.     Vegetables  for  the  Lisbon  market  appeared 
to  be  the  chief  production  of  the  soil,  kidney  beans 
predominating.      This   part    of  the    country   also 
produces  Indian  corn;  a  lofty  reed,  resembling  that 
plant  in  appearance,  but  higher,  and  used  for  vine- 
supports,  serving  as  a  hedge  to  separate  the  fields. 
The  hills  looked  very  sombre,  for  nothing  relieved 
the  bare  ground,  from  which  the  crops  of  wheat 
and  barley  had  been  reaped,  but  a  few  melancholy 

olives. 

The  peasantry  were  clothed  in  the  veriest  rags, 
especially  the  men,  whose  appearance  by  no  means 
prepossessed  me.  At  a  village  where  we  stopped 
to  give  the  horses  a  little  bread,  the  blacksmith 


44 


THE  TAG  US  AND  THE  TIBER. 


NATURE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


45 


busy  shoeing  oxen,  by  nailing  a  flat  piece  of 
iron  on  each  division  of  tlie  hoof.  These  animals 
floemed  to  be  used  as  the  sole  beasts  of  draught, 
horses,  mules,  and  donkeys  being  employed  for 
cany'ing  burdens  on  their  backs.  The  latter, 
conveying  produce  to  the  capital,  thronged  the 
road. 

At  this  village  we  left  the  cultivated  district  to 
cross  bare  gloomy  hills,  on  a  paved  track,  so  rugged 
and  full  of  dangerous  holes,  that  our  postilions 
frequently  diverged  from  it  to  seek  a  smoother  way 
over  the  iields.  No  words  can  convey  to  civilized 
ears  any  adecpiate  idea  of  the  execrable  path,  over 
which  tour  hardy  horses  dragged  our  vehicle  at  the 
imte  of  two  and  three-quarter  miles  an  hour  to 
Torres  Vedras.  Sometimes  wt*  descended  an  in- 
filled plane,  more  like  a  timber-^) ide  than  anything 
tin;  sometimes  the  horses  scrambled  like  cats  up 
a  precipice ;  sometimes  the  wheels  settled  down 
into  deep  hole^,  out  of  which  violent  efforts  were 
rei^uired  to  drag  them,  and  at  others  we  were  jolted 
over  huiTi'  Wulders  and  shelves  of  rock,  until  every 
bone  m  our  Ixniie^  ached.  Many  mule-patlis  in 
Switzerland  are  well  made  in  comparison  with  this 


high-road  between  Lisbon  and  Oporto.  I  would 
ratlier  ride  forty  miles  on  the  mountains  of  Scot- 
land than  ten  on  the  leading  thoroughfare  of  Por- 
tugal. How  Antonio  managed  to  hold  on,  no  man 
can  tell.  At  the  termination  of  the  journey  he 
complained  of  innumerable  bruises. 

An  excellent  soil  covers  these  hills,  although 
they  are  stony  and  quite  destitute  of  trees.  When 
we  passed  the  little  gardens  attached  to  cottars' 
houses,  the  depth  and  richness  of  the  earth  sur- 
prised us.  The  principal  crops  seemed  to  be 
barley  and  Indian  corn,  divided  from  each  other  by 
rude  stone  dykes ;  but  at  this  season  of  the  year 
all  was  desolation,  the  grain  having  been  long  ago 
gathered  in,  and  the  stubble  having  withered  in  the 
ground.  For  several  miles  we  saw  few  houses, 
and  those  few  resembled  the  dwellings  in  the  East, 
gloomy  erections  attended  by  a  single  fig-tree.  At 
the  highest  point  we  had  an  extensive  view  over 
Estremadura  and  Alemtejo,  with  the  silvery  Tagus 
and  the  rugged  hills  of  Cintra.  A  hazardous 
descent  then  conducted  us  into  a  valley  studded 
with  abodes  of  the  peasantry,  and  green  with  figs 
and  vines.     Here  we  gave  our  horses  a  rest,  whilst 


< 


f 


46 


THE   TAGTS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


TORRES   VEDRAS. 


47 


^i    I 


we  regaled  ourselves  with  grapes,  piiri^le  and  green 
figs,  and  the  bread  of  the  country. 

The  tops  of  all  the  neighbouring  hills  exhibited 
remains  of  those  forts  which  so  effectually  checked 
Marshal  Massena,  and  saved  the  Portuguese  ca- 
pital. Again  mounting  an  elevated  ridge,  we  looked 
down  on  well-cultivated  dales,  where  the  dark 
hue  of  the  olives  afforded  a  singular  contrast  to  the 
beiiutiful  green  of  the  fir-trees,  which  they  despoil 
of  their  leaves  and  branches,  excepting  a  bunch  at 
the  top,  in  order  to  obtain  fuel  for  the  wine-l)oilers. 
The    trees,   therefore,   in    the   distance,    look  like 

palms. 

Every  elevated  mound  in  Portugal  has  its  wind- 
mill  for  grinding  com,  rude  buildings  in  tliemselves, 
but  still  giving  a  pleasant  variety  to  the  prospect. 

The  Manpiis  d'Abrantes  owns  the  greater  part 
of  the  property  in  this  vicinity ;  but  we  passed 
a  fine  estate  belonging  to  a  private  gentleman,  and 
producing  annually  a  thousand  casks  of  wine.  At 
sunset  we  missed  our  way,  and  had  to  retrace  our 
footsteps  to  seek  another  path.  And  such  a  path  ! 
It  resembled  exactly  the  bed  of  those  Alpine  tor- 
rents, which  every  spring  sweep  away  portions  ot 


roads  over  the  Simplon,  Splugen,  and  St.  Gotliard. 
We  had  proceeded  about    a  mile  on  this  track, 
following  the  polcstar  as  our  guide,  when  a  sudden 
stoppage,  a  volley  of  Portuguese  oaths,  and  the 
rocking  of  the  vehicle,  warned  us  to  get  out  with 
all  possible  expedition.     One  of  the  leaders  had 
fallen,  and  lay  quietly  in  a  rut.     The  clamorous 
postilions  seemed   to   have  no  idea  of  raising  a 
horse   in   such   a   situation,    but  we  managed   to 
extricate  him,  and  convey  the  carnage  to  something 
which  looked  more  like  the  path  than  the  one  our 
drivers  had  chosen. 

Antonio  now  said  that  we  must  be  quite  close  to 
Torres  Vedras ;  but  at  a  wayside  house  we  learned 
that  four  miles  of  the  dreadful  jolting  had  yet  to  be 
endured.  The  fact,  1  believe,  was  that  the  rascals 
had  lost  their  way,  and  had  been  steeple-chasing 
over  the  country  at  random.  Another  hour  passed 
tediously,  and  glad  wxre  we  to  see  the  light  of  a 
convent  at  the  little  town  where  our  journey  was  to 
tenuinate.  Had  it  not  been  for  that  kindly  polar 
star,  I  question  whether  we  should  have  reached 
our  destination  that  night,  although  Torres  Yedras 
is  only  twenty-eight  miles  distant  from  Lisbon ! 


4« 


THE   TAOrS   AND   THE   TIRER. 


A«  it  was.  we  took  ten  hours  to  accomplish  the 
jouniey!  Do  the  Portuguese  know  that  they  live 
in  the  nineteenth  century? 

At  the  entrance  of  the  \411age  we  encountered 
m  new  difficulty,  the  streets  being  so  narrow  that 
our  j>ecuUar  vehicle  could  scarcely  be  |iersuaded  to 
tuni  the  comers.  Finally,  however,  we  reached 
tkte  door  of  a  miserable  hospedaria,  or  tavern,  in 
the  P^MU?  of  which  muleteers,  wrapped  in  their 
ch^ks.  lay  buried  in  profound  slumber,  and  greeted 
«ft  with  quite  a  chorus  of  snoring.  The  most 
unpleasant  odours  perfimied,  and  a  few  dirty  chairs 
fiimished  the  apartments ;  but  having  discovered  a 
chamlier,  the  floor  of  which  apjx^ared  to  have  been 
washed  within  a  year,  we  expelled  the  sleepers. 
and  took  possession.  Fresh  eggs,  the  only  com- 
niiniity  to  lie  had,  ser\'ed  us  for  supper,  and  then  we 
lav  down  for  the  night,  wrapped  in  our  rugs,  beds 
iH'inir  a  luxurv  unknown  to  our  entertainers. 

1  s}>ent  the  remaining  hours  of  darkness  very 
indiflPerently,  for  the  dogs  howled  without,  and  tor- 
mentors of  a  smaller  species  assailed  me  within. 
Happily,  morning  soon  broke,  and  we  rose  to 
inspect  the  castle,  a  Moorish  ruin  which  overhangs 


« 


THE  LINES. 


49 


the  town,  and  from  which  a  fine  view  may  be  ob- 
tained of  those  famous  lines  which  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  so  stoutly  held  against  Massena's  well- 
appointed  army. 

The  British  commander's  head-quarters  were  at 
Fort  Santa  Vicente,  crowning  a  hill  above  Torres 
Vedras,  and  forming  one  of  the  fortified  positions 
which,  connected  with  each  other,  constituted  the 
first  or  outer  line.  A  series  of  valleys  intervene 
between  them  and  the  heights  nearer  Lisbon,  on 
which  stood  the  second  chain  of  forts,  and  a  wider 
plain  separated  them  in  their  turn  from  the  inner 
defences.  Every  schoolboy  knows  that  the  suc- 
cessful maintenance  of  this  line  of  forts  by  the  then 
Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  extending,  as  it  did,  from 
the  Tagus  to  the  sea,  saved  the  Portuguese  capital, 
and  checked  the  progress  of  the  French  arms. 

In  1846  the  village  of  Torres  Vedras  became 
again  the  scene  of  conflict,  for  there  Saldanha 
encountered  the  troops  acting  under  the  orders  of 
the  Junta  of  Oporto.  The  streets  are  narrow,  and 
given  up  to  all  manner  of  uncleanness.  Pigs  grovel 
at  every  doorstep  amidst  filth  indescribable. 

After  breakfast  we  set  out  for  Mafra,  passing 

VOL.  I.  D 


50 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


WINE   WAREHOUSE. 


51 


tln»i)irh  vineyards  in  which  the  husbandmen  were 
busy  phicking  the  grapes.     These  they  transport 
to  tlie  presses  in  carts  drawn  by  two  oxen,  and  con- 
sisting of  a  large  tub  or  vat  fastened  by  sticks  on  a 
fxmme,  which  rests  on  wheels  of  solid  wood,  creaking 
at  everv  revolution.   To  make  ordinary  wines,  they 
mix  the  red  and  white  grapes  ;  but  to  produce  the 
Knter  qualities,  they  use  the  latter  alone.     The 
oouaer  bunches  of  grapes  are  boiled  in  a  caldron 
to  extract  the  essence,  which  adds  strength  to  the 
liquid  when  put  into  the  vats. 

From  the  summit  of  the  second  lines,  we  enjoyed 
an  extensive  \'iew  of  the  fortifications,  the  heights 
above  Cintra,  the  white  houses  of  Torres  Vedras,  and 
the  villagt^s  in  the  valleys  near  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
This  mountain  side  has  been  the  scene  of  not  a  few 
robberies  and  murders.     At   night   banditti   still 
iiifest   the    |>ath,   the    inequality   of  the    ground 
and   the   absence   of  habitations   favouring  their 
design>.     It  has  sometimes  been   remarked   that 
briirands  abound  in  wine-growing  districts,  where 
coutmuous  industry  is  unnecessary.     The  people, 
having  too  much  leisure  on  their  hands,  become 
Uiy,  take  to  gambling,  and  then  resort  to  dishonest 


practices  to  furnish  them  with  the  means  of  grati- 
fying that  vice.  A  copper  or  tvvo  procured  for  us 
in  the  next  valley  as  many  ripe  grapes  as  we  could 
eat.  Hedges  of  aloes  separate  the  vineyards,  and 
every  now  and  then  shoot  up  a  tall  treelike  stem, 
crowned  w4th  a  flower. 

At   a   small  village   on   the   succeeding   rising 
ground,  we  visited  a  wine  warehouse  filled  with 
casks  of  various  years'  manufacture.     At  one  end 
the  workmen  were  boiling  the  worst  grapes,  and 
unloading  the  carts  w^hicli  conveyed  the  produce 
of  the  vineyards.     At  night  they  begin  the  process 
of  pressing.     Whilst  we  were  inspecting  the  pre- 
mises, the  master  arrived  and  invited  us  to  enter 
his  ''  palace."     This  we  declined,  but  he  would  not 
allow  us  to  depart  until  we  had  tasted  the  new^ly- 
pressed  juice,  the  fermenting  wine  of  the  previous 
year,  and  his  best  white  wine  of  old  manufacture. 
The  wagons  laden  w4th  grapes  arrived  one  by  one 
during   our  stay,  driven  by  a   man  who  walked 
before  the  oxen,  guiding  tliem  with  a  goad  or  sharp- 
pointed  stick.     The  grapes  were  thrown  from  the 
carts  with  pitchforks,  in  the  same  manner  as  we 
in  England  unload  a  wagon  of  hay. 

d2 


|1 


52 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


Four  miles    before   reaching    Mafra,  we  came 
to  a  wall   fifteen   miles  in   circumference,  which 
surrounds  the   royal   hunting-ground   attached  to 
that  palace.     A  short  distance  beyond,  the  leaders 
broke  the  bar  attaching  them  to  the  pole  of  the 
carriage ;  so  we  got  out  and  walked  to  the  village, 
built  on  the  top   of  a  hill,  and   in   front  of  an 
enormous  edifice  with  three  lofty  towers,  and  con- 
sisting of  a  church,  several  quadrangles  formerly 
tenanted  by  three  himdred  Franciscan  monks,  and 
a  palace  now  empty  and  rapidly  falling  into  decay. 
The  suite  of  rooms  behind  serve  as  a  barrack  and 
a  military  school     This  vast  building  presents  an 
aspect   of    desolation   quite   overwhelming.     The 
wind  whistles  through  the  doorless  entrance,  piles 
of  wood  lumber  the  spacious  courts,  the  rain  from 
the  Atlantic  pours  in  at  the  broken  windows,  and 
spirits  write  "  Mene,  mene,  tekel,"  on  every  deserted 
wall,  reminding  one  of  Hannali  More*s  lines  on 
Babylon : — 

**  While  DeflolatioD,  snatching  from  the  hand 
Of  Time  the  scythe  of  ruin,  sits  aloft, 
Or  stalks  in  dreadful  majesty  abroad." 

We  wandered  through  suites  of  rooms,  either  unfur- 


MAFRA. 


53 


nished  or  containing  chairs   and   tables   scarcely 
good  enough  for  a  second-rate  English  pawnshop. 
Yet  the  Queen  had  resided  in  them  for  four  weeks, 
a  very  short   time   previous    to  our   visit.^     The 
church,  which  various   writers   admire,  appeared 
to  me  a  heavy  building,  more  like  a  vast  marble 
tomb.     The  weight  above   seems  as  if  about  to 
crush   the   pillars  and  arches.     The  chief  object 
of  attraction  at  Mafra  is  the  library,  containing  an 
extraordinary  number  of  books  in  all  languages, 
chiefly  on  church  matters,  but  also  historical,  legal, 
philosophical,  poetical,  and  connected  with  miscel- 
laneous literature.     The  volumes  are  handsomely 
bound  and  remarkably  well  arranged. 

Having  attempted  to  dine  on  a  fowl  which  had 
been  killed  since  our  arrival,  we  started  for  Cintra, 
passing  first  through  the  royal  park  and  then  over 
a  much  better  road  than  we  had  hitherto  travelled 
upon.  They  have  taken  up  the  stones  and  are 
macadamising  it.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  our  pos- 
tilions pronounced  it  worse  than  the  execrable 
track  we  had  been  before  pursuing.  Can  we  feel 
surprised  that  Childe  Harold  should  indignantly 
ask,  why  "  Nature  has  wasted  her  wonders  on  such 


^« 


54 


TUE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


CINTRA. 


55 


men  r 


Shortly  before  our  arrival  darkness  closed 
around  us,  and  our  leading  postilion  lit  a  flaming 
torch,  which  he  held  aloft  to  show  the  path  to 
Cintra. 

When  I  awoke  next  morning  I  found  myself  in 
a  room  commanding  a  splendid  prospect, — two 
windows  looking  towards  Mafra  and  the  sea,  a 
third  towards  the  summit  of  the  wooded  hill,  on 
the  side  of  which  stands  the  Portuguese  paradise. 
Borrow  designates  Cintra  "  an  enchanted  region ;" 
it  would  be  beautiful  in  any  country — no  wonder 
then  that  it  is  so  much  thought  of  in  bare, 
un wooded,  sunburnt  Portugal.  Around  it  you  see 
nothing  excepting  brown  fields,  without  tree  or 
green  blade  ;  but  Cintra  is  buried  in  foliage,  rich 
in  picturesque  objects,  and  surmounted  by  preci- 
pitous crags,  on  the  loftiest  of  which  the  La  Pena 
convent,  now  a  royal  abode,  affords  a  beacon  to 
vessels  far  off  on  the  wide  Atlantic. 

The  remains  of  a  Moorish  castle  crown  the 
height  next  in  point  of  elevation,  while  every 
eminence  on  the  hill-side  below  has  its  palace, 
the  summer  resorts  of  the  Portuguese  nobility. 
Thither  they  escape  from  dust,  heat,  and  burnt-up 


fields,  to  enjoy  shady  groves  and  the  breezes  from  the 
ocean.  Lord  Byron,  in  his  correspondence,  says 
that  Cintra  "unites  all  the  wildness  of  the  western 
highlands  with  the  verdure  of  the  south  of  France." 
Every  lover  of  poetry  recollects  his  beautiful 
description  of  the  scenery  in   the  first   canto   of 

Childe  Harold. 

The  village  itself  contains  about  one  thousand 
inhabitants,  the  ugly  palace  of  the  Queen  occupy- 
ing the  rocky  eminence  which  rises  in  the  midst 
of  it.     The  day  following  our  arrival  the  ladies 
procured  donkeys  and  the  gentlemen  mules,  for  an 
excursion   in  the   neighbourhood.     Climbing  the 
heights  immediately  above  the  houses,  we  crossed 
a  rugged  mountainous  region  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Tagus,  the  animals  choosing  their  steps  with  re- 
markable foresight  and  care,  yet   progi^essing   at 
a  sharp  pace.     A  lad  ran  alongside  to  goad  the 
lazy  ones.     So  easy  was  the  motion  that  I  wrote 
in  my  note-book  while  riding.     We  first  stopped 
to  inspect  the  remains  of  a  convent,  built  entirely 
of  cork  wood  in  a  cleft  of  the  rocks,  a  curious  relic 
of  the  monkish  age,  "  where  St.  Honorius  dug  his 
den.*' 


56 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE   TIBER. 


Then  we  descended  in  the  direction  of  the  sea, 
passing  several  populous  villages,  the  inhabitants 
of  which  were  busily  employed  in  packing  unripe 
lemons  for  exportation.  The  fruit  was  quite  green, 
although  it  comes  out  of  the  boxes  yellow.  Others 
worked  among  heaps  of  grape  refuse,  separating 
the  seeds,  which  they  give  to  the  pigs,  from  the 
husks,  which  the  oxen  consume.  The  vineyards 
and  gardens  are  protected  from  the  cold  biting 
winds  by  hedges  of  the  reed  before  mentioned, 
which  grows  to  a  great  height  above  all  other 
shrubs. 

Along  a  path  which  even  a  Scotch  Highlander 
would  have  pronounced  impassable,  we  proceeded 
to  the  sea-shore, — a  bold  coast  of  perpendicular 
cliffs,  on  which  the  breakers  roared  in  fury,  and 
broke  in  hills  of  foam.  Travellers  usually  here 
witness  a  very  dangerous  and  stupid  feat;  we  had  of 
course  likewise  to  submit  to  the  ordeal.  Three 
men  descended  the  rocks  at  a  point  where  they 
slightly  shelve,  in  order  to  prove  to  us  how  like 
cats  habit  has  rendered  them,  and  to  claim  a  reward 
for  such  a  display  of  intrepidity. 

Keturning  through  orchards,  laden  with  apples, 


MONTSERRAT. 


57 


pears,  lemons,  oranges,  and  other  fruits,  we  stopped 
at  the  little  town  of  Colhares,  to  drink  at  the 
hospedaria  a  glass  of  the  excellent  wine  which 
bears  its  name.  It  resembles  claret,  but  has  a 
fuller  body.  Few  rides  in  the  Peninsula  are  more 
beautiful  than  this.  Between  rows  of  fruit-trees, 
looking  down  on  a  smiling  valley,  and  meeting 
groups  of  peasants  returning  with  their  empty 
panniers,  you  at  one  time  scramble  down  a  ravine, 
at  another  canter  along  the  hill-side,  enjoying  the 
unusual  exercise  and  scenery.  How  it  would  have 
amused  friends  at  home,  could  some  Paduan 
Doctor  have  for  their  benefit  reproduced  our  caval- 
cade in  an  Aunt  Margaret's  mirror ! 

In  a  forest  of  cork-trees  and  arbutus,  on  an 
eminence  dividing  into  two  parts  a  wild  dingle, 
stand  the  desolated  ruins  of  Montserrat,  a  castel- 
lated edifice,  built  by  Mr.  Beckford,  the  eccentric 
author  of  "  Vathek."  Here  once  that  spoiled  child 
of  fortune  "  schemed  his  plans  of  pleasure,"  but 
now  "  the  fairy  dwelling  is  lone,"  and 

"  giant  weeds  a  passage  scarce  allow 
To  halls  deserted,  portals  gaping  wide." 

The  path  between  this  house  and  Cintra  is,  per- 

d3 


58 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBER. 


MAGNIFICENT   VIEW. 


59 


haps,  the  most  picturesque  in  Portugal,  leading 
over  a  wooded  hill  amidst  rocks,  ravines,  and 
gardens,  above  which  rise  the  ruins  of  the  Moorish 
fort. 

On  Sunday  morning  I  sauntered  into  tlie  village, 
but  found  the  church  shut,  the  market-place  being 
full  of  people  buying  and  selling  fruit  and  vege- 
tables. 

I  do  not  recollect  ever  having  seen  a  more 
romantic  object  than  the  building  which  crowns 
the  highest  of  those  pointed  hills  between  the  plain 
of  Mafra  and  the  Tagus.  It  was  built  for  the 
monks  of  the  Jeronymite  convent  at  Belem,  by 
King  Emmanuel,  on  the  rock  which  he  had  often 
ascended  to  see  if  he  could  descry  the  returning 
fleet  of  Yasco  di  Gama,  and  from  which  lie  did,  in 
fact,  discover  it.  When  the  monastic  orders  were 
abolished,  it  became  private  property,  but  the 
King-Consort  purchased  it,  and  is  restoring  it  with 
great  taste  in  the  Moorish  style.  It  has  numerous 
turrets,  several  moresco  courts,  columns  of  mosaic 
work,  and  a  lofty  tower,  the  view  from  which  can 
scarcely  be  described. 

Beneath  our  feet  was   the   castle,  its   grounds 


adorned  with  gardens,  woods,  sheets  of  water,  and 
well  laid  out  walks;  towards  the  west  the  hills 
ended  at  the  cliffs  on  which  roll  the  Atlantic 
surges,  and  Colhares  appeared  in  the  foreground, 
with  its  vineyards  and  orchards ;  northwards  rose 
the  towers  of  Mafra  and  the  heights  of  Torres 
Vedras,  with  Mont  Junta  in  the  distance ;  on 
the  east  we  could  see  the  suburbs  of  Lisbon,  the 
silvery  river,  and  the  plain  of  Alemtejo;  while 
towards  the  south  lighthouses  and  breakers  indi- 
cated the  mouth  of  the  Tagus,  the  rocky  hill  of 
Palmella  bounding  the  prospect. 

I  felt  loth  to  leave  such  a  splendid  observatory, 
even  to  inspect  the  other  parts  of  the  castle.  A 
smooth  carriage-road,  winding  in  graceful  sweeps 
up  the  valley,  leads  to  the  principal  entrance,  over 
which  a  gigantic  human  figure  supporting  a  vine 
has  been  exquisitely  sculptured  in  stone.  Govern- 
ment has  surrounded  this  hill,  and  that  occupied 
by  the  Moorish  ruin,  by  a  wall,  with  numerous 
turrets,  having  an  excellent  effect,  and  laid  out  the 
sides  of  both  eminences  as  pleasure-grounds,  where 
the  huge  rocks,  left  as  nature  placed  them,  contrast 
beautifully  with  the  flowers  of  the  geranium  groves, 


J 


60 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


the  bright  arbutus  berries,  the  graceful  green  leaves 
of  the  acacia  and  sensitive  plant,  and  the  bushy 
firs.  Walks  wind  round  the  heights  to  various 
points  of  view,  and  stone  benches,  each  one  having 
a  name,  enable  the  visitor  to  enjoy  at  liis  leisure 
this  charming  paradise.  One  could  for  hours 
saunter  there  amidst  the  geraniums  and  myrtles, 
meditating  on  the  glories  of  that  Natm-e  which 
Herv-ey  says  '*  is  a  book,  and  rich  with  sacred  hints 
on  every  page." 

The  winds  rose  and  the  clouds  descended  as  I 
left  my  seat  among  the  rocks,  and  scarcely  had  I 
reached  the  village,  when  the  mists  shrouded  these 
uplifted  gardens  from  mortal  gaze. 

Before  leaving  Cintra,  we  had  another  ride  on 
the  mules  and  donkeys ;  the  former,  as  I  can  testify, 
very  much  addicted  to  kicking.  Descending  the 
hill  on  wliich  the  \Tillage  is  perched  like  an  eagle's 
nest,  by  a  precipitous  path,  we  crossed  the  valley, 
and  turning  to  the  left,  rode  along  the  treeless 
ridge,  until  we  entered  the  oasis  of  orchards  where 
Colhares  is  embowered.  On  this  route,  we  had 
ever-changing  views  of  the  graceful  woods  and 
pinnacles  of  rock  which  charm  the   Portuguese, 


THE   PEASANTRY. 


61 


of  La  Pena  and  the  Moorish  castle  towering  above 
them,  of  the  melancholy  walls  of  Montserrat,  the 
palace  of  the  Duke  de  Cadaval,  and  the  stately 
quinta,  where  Goa's  viceroy,  old  John  de  Castro, 
spent  his  latter  years.  Near  these  mansions  stands 
the  villa  formerly  belonging  to  the  Marquis  of 
Marialva,  now  to  the  Duke  of  Terceira,  where  half 
the  world  believed  that  Sir  Hew  Dalrimple  and 
Marshal  Junot  signed  the  well-known  "  Convention 
of  Cintra,"  until  Napier,  in  his  admirable  History 
of  the  Peninsular  War,  exposed  the  misrepresen- 
tation. 

When  travelling  in  the  country  districts  of 
Portugal,  one  finds  out  the  reason  why  jewellers' 
shops  are  so  numerous  in  the  capital.  The  common 
people  passionately  love  ornament  and  gaudy 
clothing;  every  peasant  woman  possesses  a  gold 
chain  and  several  trinkets,  which  she  treasures  up 
with  great  care,  knowing  that  they  can  be  turned 
to  account  in  an  evil  day.  These  valuables  she 
never  washes,  lest  the  weight  of  the  metal  be 
diminished.  The  highest  ambition  of  a  damsel  is 
to  possess  a  gold  chain  and  a  cloak  or  capote- 
a-lengo.     For   the    latter   she    pays    about    three 


ii 


1 


II 


62 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


pounds  sterling,  and  she  makes  it  serve  for  four 
years. 

The  Portuguese  appeared  to  me  a  polite  people ; 
not  only  polite  in  the  French  acceptation  of  the 
term,  willing  to  bow,  grimace,  and  lift  their  hats, 
but  really  considerate  and  well-bred.  They  would 
scorn  to  show  that  selfishness  which  animates  their 
Gallic  neighbours,  and  which  can  easily  be  disco- 
vered in  the  midst  of  all  their  fine  speeches.  One 
experiences  in  the  Peninsula  none  of  that  staring 
at  ladies,  smoking  tobacco  in  their  faces,  and  un- 
accommodating beha\4our  which  makes  travelling 
in  France  so  disagreeable.  The  Portuguese  have 
not  as  yet  discovered  the  truth  of  the  remark  made 
by  Joseph  Surface  in  the  School  for  Scandal : 
"  The  silver  ore  of  pure  charity  is  an  expensive 
article  in  the  catalogue  of  man's  good  qualities ; 
whereas  the  sentimental  French  plate  1  use  instead 
of  it,  makes  just  as  good  a  show,  and  pays  no 
tax." 

The  postboy  who  drove  us  from  Cintra  to  Lisbon 
made  us  feel  rather  uneasy,  for  he  rolled  on  his 
saddle  as  if  he  had  no  power  over  either  himself  or 
his   horses.      We   were   never   able   to   ascertain 


r* 


GALLEGOS. 


63 


whether  he  was  drunk,  insane,  or  only  intolerably 
lazy.  However  he  brought  us  safely  to  the  ter- 
mination of  the  journey,  having  done  no  further 
damage  than  capsizing  an  old  woman  and  her 
donkey ;  so  we  charitably  concluded  that  he  was 
unwell. 

The  road  between  the  tw^o  places  passes  through 
a  bare,  undulating  country,  well  cultivated,  and 
abounding  in  windmills.  It  is  amply  provided 
wdth  hospedarias  for  the  refreshment  of  man  and 
beast.  At  the  first  one  where  w^e  stopped  to  bait 
our  horses,  I  counted  twenty-six  beggars  around 
tlie  carriage  together. 

The  Gallegos,  or  natives  of  Gallicia,  are  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Lisbon  what  the  Irish  are  to  the 
English,  what  the  Gibeonites  were  to  the  children 
of  Israel, — their  "  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of 
water;"  their  porters,  house-servants,  and  drudges, 
peribrming  all  the  hard  work  of  the  capital  One 
of  their  chief  occupations  is  to  cany  water  from 
the  numerous  fomitains.  They  use  for  this  pur- 
pose small  barrels,  rows  of  which  you  see  at  every 
public  well.  The  shrill  cry  of  "Agoa,"  may  be 
heard  in  all  the  thoroughfares. 


-^ — 


I  ■ 


64 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


I  was  Struck  with  the  wide-spread  infusion  of 
Negro  blood  into  the  population  of  Lisbon.  In 
the  evenings,  when  the  people  look  out  of  their 
windows,  I  saw  in  every  street  some  face  either 
black  or  blackish,  and  mulatto  dandies  appeared  to 
me  nearly  as  common  as  cats  without  tails. 

One  day,  after  our  return,  we  sailed  across  the 
Tagus  to  Cacilhas,  the  village  in  Alemtejo,  oppo- 
site  the  city.     The  landing-place  has  been  called 
**  Jackass  Bay"  by  the  English  sailors,  from  the 
crowd  of  donkeys  and   boys,  clamorous  for  em- 
ployment, which   beset   strangers  arriving  there. 
Mounted  on  stout  asses,  we  rode  up  to  the  tele- 
graph station,  from  which  we  had  a  most  splendid 
panoramic  view  of  *' Old   Lisboa."     On  our  left 
was  the  mouth  of  the  river  with  its  lighthouses, 
the  breakers  whitening  the  bar;    then  came  the 
village,  bay,  and  castle  of  Belem,  above  it   the 
half-finished  palace  of  Ajuda,  and  in  the  distance 
the  La  Pena  convent  crowning  the  Cintra  hills. 
Before  us  the  city  extended  its  long  line  of  white 
houses  and  red  roofs,  conspicuous  amongst  which 
appeared  the  Estrella  church,  the  Palace,  the  Castle 
of  St.  George,  the  Cathedral,  the  church  of  St. 


ENGLISH   SAILORS. 


65 


Vincent,  and  the  custom-house,  off  which  last 
edifice  hundreds  of  vessels  lay  at  anchor.  Further 
east  the  Tagus  seemed  to  expand  into  a  vast 
inland  lake,  and  on  our  right,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  stretched  the  woods  of  Alemtejo, 
two  picturesque  bights  of  the  river  giving  cheer- 
fulness to  the  foreground  of  the  landscape.  The 
day  being  clear  and  warm,  we  remained  for  a  long 
time  enjoying  this  fine  prospect,  and  watching 
the  little  boats  which  threaded  their  way  among 
the  ships  of  war  below  us.  It  was  with  reluctance 
that  we  turned  our  donkeys'  heads  towards  the 
landing-place. 

Wearied  of  wandering  about  the  hot  streets  of 
the  city,  we  got  a  boat  and  went  out  to  see  the 
"  warlike  world  within  "  the  British  line-of-battle 
ship  Prince  Regent^  bearing  the  flag  of  Commo- 
dore Martin, — a  most  agreeable  manner  of  spend- 
ing an  idle  forenoon. 

The  sailors  of  our  fleet  have  acquired  for  them- 
selves an  unenviable  reputation  in  Lisbon.  They 
never  go  ashore  without  making  a  disturbance, 
very  often  a  serious  one.  So  well  known  is  their 
propensity  for  strong  drink,  that  they  are  syste- 


66 


THE   IBERIA. 


67 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


r 


i 


matically  drugged  and  then  robbed  by  the  "  land- 
sharks."  I  saw  a  band  of  them  trying  to  sell  their 
shoes  for  liquor,  in  Don  Pedro-square.  Their 
dnmkenness  and  brawling  have  impressed  the 
Portuguese  most  unfavourably,  in  regard  to  the 
English  nation.  Surely  something  can  and  ought 
to  be  done  by  the  officers  to  check  an  evil  which 
has  brought  such  discredit  upon  our  country ! 
When  boat-loads  of  men  come  alongside  the  ships 
in  the  last  stage  of  intoxication,  some  notice,  I 
think,  might  be  taken  of  the  offence,  and  some 
means  employed  to  prevent  its  recurrence. 

We  returned  on  shore  in  the  "  barge,"  and  liad 
scarcely  reached  our  hotel,  when  a  regular  Scotch 
mist  set  in,  which  obscured  the  blue  sky  of  the 
morning,  and  falling  in  a  drizzling  rain,  made  the 
Tagus  look  as  uninviting  as  the  Tay,  although  so 
much  nearer  the  equator. 

Next  morning  we  embarked  for  Cadiz,  on  board 
the  British  mail  steamer  Iheria,  which  had  had  a 
very  stormy  passage  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and 
arrived  later  than  usual.  Fever  of  a  suspicious 
kind  having  broken  out  at  Oporto,  the  authorities 
hesitated  for  two  hours  before  giving  us  a  clean 


bill  of  health,  although  the  packet  had  not  called 
at  that  place.  For  once,  however,  they  acted  with 
some  degree  of  intelligence,  an  unusual  thing  for 
such  functionaries  in  Southern  Europe;  so  we 
weighed  anchor  and  bade  adieu  to  a  city  where 
we  had  been  hospitably  entertained,  and  of  which 
1  have  many  pleasant  recollections. 

Having  crossed  the  bar,  we  found  the  wind  fair, 
but  the  roll  of  the  ocean  soon  drove  me  down 
below.  We  passed  Cape  St.Yincent  at  midnight, 
and  at  two  o'clock  came  in  sight  of 

"  Fair  Cadiz,  rising  o'er  the  dai'k  blue  sea," 

As  we  approached  its  beautiful  white  houses,  I 
almost  fancied  myself  again  gazing  from  the  Lido's 
sands  on  Venice,  the  bride  of  the  ocean.  The  city 
stands  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  protecting  the 
bay  from  the  Atlantic.  I  cannot  take  leave  of  the 
creaking  Iberia j  without  observing  that  if  that 
vessel  is  during  all  her  voyages  as  ill-provided  and 
uncomfortable  as  the  passengers  on  board  agreed 
she  then  was,  the  Directors  of  the  Peninsular  and 
Oriental  Company  had  better  look  to  their  repu- 
tation. 


„. ,.  .-^■*«^«!^*#.^i^^fe«'-" 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CADIZ — ITS  SITUATION  AND  APPEARANCE — THE  BR<VUTirUL  GADI- 
TANAS — THE  ALAMEDA  AT  SUNSET — PUERTO  SANTA  MARIA — 
BANKS  OP  THE  GUADALETE — XEREZ  DE  LA  FRONTERA  —  THE 
"BODEGAS,"  OR  WINE  MAGAZINES — MANUFACTURE  OP  SHERRY 
— DEMAND  FOR  IT  EXCEEDS  THE  SUPPLY — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE 
COUNTRY  BETWEEN  XEREZ  AND  SAN  LUCAR — INTENSE  HEAT — 
STEAMER  ON  THE  GUADALQUIVER — THE  MIRAGE — AGRICULTURE 
ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  RIVER — HERDS  OP  CATTLE — APPROACH 
TO  SEVILLE — THE  FONDA  DE  LA  REYNA — THE  CATHEDR.VL — 
MAGNIFICENCE  OP  THE  INTERIOR  —  THE  ORGAN  —  POWER  OF 
MUSIC — PICTURE  OP  "  THE  GUARDIAN  ANGEL  " — THE  ALCAZAR, 
OR  ANCIENT  PALACE  OP  THE  MOORISH  KINGS — SPANISH  ART — 
MURILLO'S  PAINTINGS — HIS    "  MOSES  STRIKING   THE    ROCK"    AND 


(( 


ST.  THOMAS   RELIEVING   BEGGARS  — REMARKS  ON  HIS  GENIUS. 


Cadiz,  the  principal,  and  for  years  almost  the 
only  sea-port  of  Spain,  is  perhaps  the  oldest  city 
in  Europe,  having  been  founded  by  the  Phoenicians 
eleven  hundred  years  before  Christ.  The  discovery 
of  America  raised  it  at  once  to  opulence  and  power. 
Now  its  trade  languishes,  for  the  wine-mercliants 
have  begun  to  ship  their  cargoes  direct  from  Puerto 
Maria  and  San  Lucar,  while  many  wealthy  families 


CADIZ. 


69 


have  removed  to  enjoy  the  better  society  of  Seville. 
Ever  since  Spain  lost  her  transatlantic  colonies, 
the  prosperity  of  this  city  has  been  on  the  wane ; 
situated  like  Venice,  like  Venice  she  has  been 
shorn  of  her  pristine  glory.  But  although  said  to 
have  been  the  site  of  a  temple  dedicated  to  Hercules 
long  before  profane  history  began,  no  city  in  the 
Peninsula  looks  more  modem  than  Cadiz. 

Walking  along  its  narrow  but  "well-paved  and 
regularly-built  streets,  you  look  up  to  a  strip  of 
blue  sky,  in  some  places  scarcely  visible,  on  account 
of  balconies  and  projecting  windows,  all  painted 
green,  so  as  to  form  a  pretty  contrast  to  the  white 
facades  of  the  houses.  Every  large  mansion  has, 
too,  its  turret  or  observatory,  where  may  be  some- 
times seen  peeping  from  among  the  folds  of  a  man- 
tilla, those  Andalucian  eyes,  which,  like  the  ring  in 
Orlando  Furioso,  dazzle  and  enchant  the  observer. 

Excepting  in  some  suburban  alleys,  the  city  is 
remarkable  for  its  cleanliness ;  along  even  the  chief 
thoroughfares  the  Gaditanas  may  trip  it  in  their 
ball  dresses.  "  The  town  is  built,"  says  a  recent 
writer,  "  as  if  for  the  celebration  of  a  continued 
carnival." 


f 


70 


THE   GADITANAS. 


71 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


For  the  energetic  measures  wliich  lie  took  in 
1785  to  improve  and  beautify  the  place,  the  citi- 
zens have  to  thank  Governor  O'Reilly.  The  streets 
open  into  neat  squares.  That  of  the  Constitution, 
at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening, — the  fashionable 
hour  of  promenade,— displays  such  a  procession 
of  handsome  women,  as  few  towns  in  Europe  can 
boast  of. 

Our  hotel  stood  at  one  end  of  the  Alameda,  or 
public  walk,  on  the  northern  ramparts,  command- 
ing a  fine  view  of  the  bay,  the  towns  of  Rota 
and  Puerto  Santa  Maria  on  the  opposite  shore, 
and  the  fishing-boats  returning  from  the  Atlantic. 
The  deep  blue  sea,  green  trees  and  houses  of 
spotless  white,  reminded  me  strongly  of  Genoa 
and  Naples.  The  ramparts  extend  quite  round 
the  city,  affording  a  strong  defence  in  case  of  war, 
and  a  pleasant  walk  in  times  of  peace.  The  whole 
day  long  you  find  them  covered  with  anglers, 
disputing  with  legions  of  gulls  for  the  ''salmonete" 
or  red  mullet,  a  delicious  fish  caught  under  the 
walls. 

A  line  of  what  might  be  rendered  impregnable 
fortifications  defend  Cadiz  on  the  side  of  the  narrow 


sandy  peninsula  connecting  it  with  the  mainland. 
Beyond  them  a  carriage-drive  and  public  walk 
lead  to  the  imposing  church  of  San  Jos^,  which 
has  a  pleasing  effect  amid  the  trees  and  shrub- 
bery. 

It  will  be  long  before  I  forget  the  lovely  faces 
and  still  more  striking  figures  which  I  saw  in  the 
churches  on  Sunday  mornings,  dressed  in  the 
black  lace  scarf,  or  mantilla,  the  national  substitute 
for  bonnets.  It  would  be  difficult  indeed  for  a 
stranger  in  such  dangerous  company  to  look 
steadily  towards  the  altar.  The  common  men 
wear  handsomely  embroidered  jackets,  narrow 
trowsers,  with  frequently  leather  gaiters  laced  up 
the  side,  and  sombreros,  or  circular  hats,  with  two 
bows  or  nobs,  somewhat  like  our  English  "  wide- 
awakes." The  higher  classes  dress  their  children 
very  fantastically  in  the  Parisian  fashion. 

On  the  western  ramparts  stands  an  immense 
yellow  poor-house, — Casa  di  Misericordia, — the 
same  in  which  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  enter- 
tained after  his  victory  at  Salamanca.  Here  a  nar- 
row ledge  of  rocks  stretches  out  into  the  sea, 
having  at  its  furthest  point  the  lighthouse  of  St. 


72 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


THE   ALAMEDA. 


73 


Sebastian,  172  feet  high.     This  breakwater  saved 
Cadiz  in  1755  from  the  wave  caused  by  the  great 
earthquake   which   laid    Lisbon    in    ruins.       The 
rocks  rise  highest  on  the  southern  side  of  the  city, 
where  stand  the  chapel  and  hospital  of  Santa  Cata- 
lina,  embowered  among  palm-trees.   I  can  scarcely 
concur    in    the    sweeping    censure    which     some 
writers  have   bestowed  on   the  new  cathedral,  a 
massive  building  in  the  semi-moorish  style,  which 
the  present  bishop  is  completing  at  his  own  ex- 
pense.     Overloaded  with  ornament  it  may  be,  but 
surely  most  Italian  churches  are  heavier  and  not 
so  well  proportioned.     A  walk  towards  the  main- 
land exposed  to  us  the  disabled  guns  and  tottering 
walls,  w^iich  a  scanty  guard  pretend  to  garrison. 

In  one  of  the  streets  a  jolly  fat  miller  showed  us 
his  mules  employed  in  grinding  corn  by  bruising 
it  with  a  large  stone.  The  animals  went  round  in 
a  circle,  turning  the  wheel  on  its  axis.  We  were 
shown  the  flour  in  different  stages  of  refinement. 
The  bread  in  Cadiz  is  excellent,  but  the  water 
dreadfully  bad.  At  certain  seasons,  the  desolating 
sirocco  wind  renders  the  place  undesirable  for  the 
residence  of  invalids.     Every  visitor,  at  least  every 


one  who  loves  to  gaze  on  Murillo's  matchless 
pictures,  must  go  to  the  chapel  of  Santa  Catalina, 
to  see  the  last  work  of  that  great  painter,  while 
occupied  on  which  he  fell  from  the  scaffolding 
and  received  injuries  which  proved  fatal. 

At  sunset  too  you  must  mingle  with  the  multi- 
tudes who  assemble  on  the  Alameda — "  tomar  al 
fresco,"  listening  to  martial  music,  and  meeting 
friends.  It  was  a  lovely  evening  when  I  first  saw" 
this  gay  scene,  and  nothing  could  be  finer  than  the 
effects  of  the  setting  rays  on  the  distant  and  pictu- 
resque mountains  of  Konda,  the  blue  waters  of  the 
bay,  and  the  white  houses.  Every  object  seemed 
lighted  up  with  an  unearthly  radiance — 

"  Parting  day- 
Died  like  the  dolphin,  whom  esich  pang  imbues 
With  a  new  colour,  as  it  gasps  away." 

Then,  tliere  was  the  hum  of  voices,  w^liile  dark- 
eyed  beauties  shrouded  in  mantillas  flitted  past, 
mingling  with  the  crowd  of  smart  gentlemen  in 
nankeen  trousers,  peasants  with  their  embroidered 
jackets,  and  officers  of  Queen  Isabella  in  blue  and 
gold.  Merrily  laughed  this  fairy  throng  till  "  the 
halcyon  glow  "  gave  place  to  that  grey  light  which 


VOL.  I. 


E 


74 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


PUERTO  SANTA   MARIA. 


75 


M 


lasts  but  a  moment,  before  darkness  covers  tbe 
earth,  and  heaven  instantaneously  appears  resplen- 
dent with  ten  thousand  twinkling  luminaries.  In 
these  climes,  there  is  no  "  pensive  Twilight,"  whom 
Rogers  has,  in  one  of  the  iinest  passages  in  English 
poetry,  described  as  seated  in  her  "  dusky  car," 
and   coming   *'  slowly   on   to    meet    the    star   of 

evening." 

A  little  steamer  plies  between  Cadiz  and  Puerto 
Santa  Maria.    I  found  it  crowded  with  passengers, 
while  the  captain,  a  man  of  enormous  bulk,  sat  on 
the  gangway  of  the  paddle-box,  smoking  his  cigar 
and  issuing  his  orders  without  seeming  to  move, 
and  apparently  acting  as  ballast  to  preserve  the 
equilibrium  of  his  tiny  vessel.  A  breeze  materially 
increased   the  speed  with  which  we  crossed  the 
bay,  and  the  afternoon  being  clear,  we  enjoyed  a 
beautiful  view  of  the  Ronda  Mountains,  and  the 
numerous    villages    in   the   neighbourhood.     The 
uproar  caused  by  our  appearance  on  landing  may 
be  imagined  but  scarcely  described.     In  vain  did 
we  endeavour  to  drive  away  a  crowd  of  men  and 
bovs,  who,  in  their  desire  to  secure  our  patronage 
for  their  "  calesas,"  seemed  atout  to  cut  us  up  into 


> 


V 


infinitesimal  portions.  Remonstrance,  vitupera- 
tion, entreaty,  tlireats — all  were  thro^vn  away  on 
the  clamorous  scoundrels.  A  dogged  silence  on 
our  part  at  length  wearied  the  assailants,  and  hav- 
ing procured  conveyances,  we  set  out  for  Xerez 
de  la  Frontera.  Puerto  contains  twenty-five  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  being  now  the  principal  place  for 
the  exportation  of  sherry  wines.  It  stands  on  a 
point  of  land  at  the  confluence  with  the  sea  of  tlie 
river  Guadalete,  over  which  a  somewhat  inelegant 
suspension  bridge  has  been  thrown.  From  this 
stream  Cadiz  derives  its  supply  of  water  at  a  cost  of 
25,000/.  sterling  per  annum. 

After  jolting  for  a  mile  along  a  bad  road,  we 
left  the  highway  and  turned  to  the  left  across  a 
rocky  hill,  where  there  were  scarcely  any  vestiges 
of  a  path.  From  the  top  of  this  rising  ground,  we 
beheld  the  city  of  sherry,  on  an  eminence  before 
us,  while  in  the  other  direction  we  commanded  a 
prospect  of  Andalucia's  sea-port,  its  bay  and 
shipping. 

We  trod  on  classic  ground,  for  there  on  the 
banks  of  the  Guadalete,  Tarik  and  his  Saracens 
vanquished  King  Roderick,  and  ended  the  Gothic 

E  2 


76 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


BODEGAS. 


77 


monarchy  of  Spain.  Deserted  by  the  traitor 
Julian,  the  Christian  army  fled  before  the  last 
charge  of  the  Mussulmans,  leaving  their  leader  to 
consult  his  safety  by  flight,  and  finally  to  perish 
in  the  waters  of  the  Guadalquiver.^ 

The  country  between  us  and  the  city  presented 
n  singular  appearance,  being  undulating  like  the 
sea  in  a  swell,  quite  destitute  of  trees,  but  dotted 
over  with  white  houses.     The  soil,  consisting  of  a 
deep  red  loam,  is  cultivated,  although  there  are  no 
enclosures.      From  the  top  of  the  hill,  we  drove 
along  a  track  across  the  fields,  diverging  to  the 
right  or  left  as  the  ground  suited  us.     Sometimes 
our  horses  trotted  briskly,  at  others  they  picked 
their  steps  with  great  care  in  what  seemed  a  stony 
watercourse.      Darkness  closed  around  us  as  we 
entered  the  picturesquely  situated  towTi  of  Xerez, 
and  drove  on  its  wide   handsome  streets  to   the 
Fonda  of  St.  Dionysius  in  the  great  square,  a  truly 
Spanish  abode,  the  walls  of  its  public  rooms  hung 
round   with   representations  of   scriptural   scenes. 
Here  we  got  very  tolerable  meals,   and  the   ac- 

•  Gibbona  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  voL  vi, 
p.  478 


I 


commodation,  barring  a  few  bad  odours,  was  better 
than  we  expected  to  find  it. 

Xerez  de  la  Frontera  is  a  large  town,  with 
several  imposing  churches  and  spires,  situated  on 
a  height,  and  surrounded  by  an  old  crenated 
Moorish  wall.  Conspicuous  above  its  houses  rises 
the  Carthusian  convent,  now  desolate  and  forsaken. 
Former  writers  have  described  its  streets  as  nar- 
row, ill-built,  and  unclean.  Either  they  have 
written  incorrectly,  or  a  great  change  has  recently 
taken  place,  for  I  found  neither  filth  nor  irregu- 
larity. On  the  contrary,  several  of  the  thorough- 
fares struck  me  as  more  elegant  than  those  of 
Spanish  towns  in  general.  The  mansions  of  the 
sherry  merchants  stand  chiefly  in  the  suburbs, 
close  to  tlieir  "  bodegas,"  or  wine  magazines.  The 
houses  in  the  town,  as  well  as  those  in  the  vine- 
yards, are  whitewashed  every  tvvo  years,  and 
therefore  present  a  very  neat  aspect. 

An  Aberdeenshire  family  of  Gordons  have  for  a 
century  occupied  the  principal  place  among  the 
mercantile  princes  of  this  city.  We  were  by  them 
kindly  received,  and  shown  over  their  vast  esta- 
blishment, adjoining  the  Alameda  and  Plaza  de 


78 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


Toros,  and  of  the  same  length  as  the  cathedral  at 
Seville.     The    "bodegas,"    where   the   sherry   is 
stored   in    casks,   piled   one    above    another,   are 
immense  warehouses,  resembling  a  good  deal  the 
sheds  imder  which  they  build  men-of-war  in  the 
dockyards,  but   of  course   more  substantial,  and 
better  enclosed.      We  tasted  a  most  delicious  dark 
and  sweet  sherry,  called  "  Pajarete,"  as  well  as 
the  light  coloured  iVmontillado,  both  old  and  new, 
the  latter  more  bitter  and  not  so  palateable  as  that 
which  had  been  kept  for  some  time.    This  wine  is 
pale  in  colour,  and  bitter  to  the  taste,  because  made 
of    unripe   grapes.       They   produce   the   darkest 
sherry  by  fermenting  the  husks  along  with   the 

juice  of  the  grapes. 

Numerous  windows  admit  a  free  circulation  of 
air  to  the  magazines,  some  of  which  contain  4,000 
butts,  for  exportation  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Sherry  is  quite  an  artificial  wine,  made  by  mix- 
ing the  produce  of  different  kinds  of  vines,— sweet 
with  bitter,  red  with  white,  brandied  with  compa- 
ratively  pure.  Every  merchant  has  some  casks  of 
famous  old  wine,  with  which  to  flavour  his  stock. 
They  do  not  keep  tlie  vintages  distinct  from  each 


SHERRIES. 


79 


other,  every  cask  being  composed  of  a  mixture. 
The  wine  is  collected  from  the  neighbouring 
vineyards ;  but  some  of  the  exporters  also  them- 
selves are  vine-growers. 

The   Spaniards   do   not   drink   sherry.      They 
pronounce   it  too  strong  and  dear ;  but  they  use 
large  quantities  of  a  weaker  and  very  bitter  pale 
wine,  grown  round  San  Lucar,  and  called  "  Man- 
zanilla."     I  really  cannot   agree  with  those  who 
maintain  it  to  be  so  delicious.     The  demand  for 
sherry  is  increasing,  new  markets  having  been 
lately  opened  up  for  it,  especially  in  the  British 
colonies ;  but  owing  to  want  of  roads,  the  mer- 
chants,  who   are  chiefly  of  French  and   Scotch 
extraction,  experience   great   difficulty  in   adding 
proportionably  to  the  supply. 

There  is  no  highway  from  Xerez  to  the  Guadal- 
quiver ;  but  a  track  has  been  formed  across  the 
fields  by  mules,  donkeys,  and  calesas,  and  has 
acquired  rather  an  unenviable  reputation  for  rob- 
beries. It  passes  between  extensive  vineyards, 
protected  from  rains  and  thieves  by  embankments 
of  mud  and  thick  hedges  of  the  prickly  pear. 
We  met  multitudes  of  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  and 


80 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


containing  barrels  of  wine  for  the  bodegas  in  the 
city.  The  winter  ton'ents  seem,  to  judge  from  the 
chasms  in  the  road,  to  devastate  the  country.  The 
morning  on  which  we  started  was  cloudless,  and 
soon  became  excessively  warm.  At  midday  we 
could  scarcely  bear  the  intensity  of  the  rays — 

"  It  seem'd 
As  if  the  air  had  fainted,  and  the  pulae 
Of  Nature  had  run  down  and  ceased  to  beat." 

Andalucia's  "sun  was  up  in  the  clear  heaven, 
and  every  beam  was  heat."  What  a  glorious  blue 
sky  was  our  canopy  that  day!  Everything  bore 
the  marks  of  such  weather  having  prevailed  for 
many  a  week  before ;  not  a  blade  of  green  grass, 
not  a  brook  of  water,  not  a  leafy  tree  did  we  en- 
counter. The  landscape  can  best  be  described 
by  a  verse  from  one  of  the  satires  of  Ariosto : — 

"  Una  stagion  fu  gia,  che  si  il  terrene 
Arse,  ch'l  sol  di  nuovo  a  Faetonte 
De'  suoi  corsier  parea  aver  dato  il  freno ; 
Secco  ogni  pozzo,  secco  era  ogni  fonte, 
Gli  stagni,  i  rioi,  e  i  fiumi  piii  famosi, 
Tutti  passar  si  potean  senza  ponte." 

Crossing  a  ridge  of  sandy  hillocks,  we  traversed 
a  wood  of  pines,  and  stopped  at  Bonanza  on  the 


THE  GUADALQUIVER. 


81 


Guadalquiver,  a  village  consisting  of  an  enormous, 
and  now  unused  custom-house,  witli  a  few  minor 
buildings,  and  acting  in  the  capacity  of  port  to  the 
town  of  San  Lucar,  two  miles  further  down  the 
river,  where  they  export  the  inferior  sherries. 

Here  we  waited  half  an  hour  under  a  burning 
sun,  until  the  steamer  Adriano  touched  at  the  quay 
on  her  voyage  from  Cadiz.  Another  quarter  of  an 
hour  was  spent  in  putting  on  board  furniture 
belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Montpensier,  who  had 
been  at  sea-bathing  quarters.  This  done,  we 
started  on  our  trip  up  the  muddy  and  uninteresting 
Guadalquiver,  a  river  which  indeed  owes  much  to 
romance,  its  banks  being  as  flat  as  those  of  the 
Zuyder  Zee,  and  for  miles  displaying  only  marshy, 
flooded  pastures,  a  few  olives,  and  herds  of  oxen. 
At  a  distance  the  Honda  mountains  rise,  as  it  were, 
out  of  the  sea,  the  low  intervening  land  being  in- 
visible. These  hills  sometimes  looked  exactly  like 
clouds,  and  more  than  once  during  our  passage  we 
witnessed  the  "  mirage."  Lakes  appeared  and 
disappeared,  and  cattle  feeding  in  the  fields  seemed 
to  be  standing  up  to  their  knees  in  clear  water, 
till  a  nearer  view  dissipated  the  delusion, 

e3 


82 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


So  muddy  is  the  river,  as  at  several  places  to 
resemble  sandbanks.  Never  have  I  seen  such 
immense  herds  of  cattle  and  horses  as  feed  on 
its  banks.  To  obtain  shade,  the  latter  form  a 
circle,  with  their  heads  in  the  middle.  These 
droves  belong  to  farmers  paying  rent  to  the  noble 
owners  of  the  soil.  They  procure  the  best  pasture 
in  winter  after  the  rains. 

In  Andalucia  the  people  thresh  the  corn  imme- 
diately subsequent  to  the  harvest,  and  convey  it  to 
the  towns  to  be  sold  or  stored.  None  remains  on 
the  fields,  which  consequently  in  autumn,  from 
the  absence  both  of  trees  and  grass,  have  a  most 
desolate  appearance.  No  hay  is  made  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Seville.  They  feed  the  cattle,  which  are 
very  lean,  on  broken  straw.  The  farmers  rely 
chiefly  on  their  olive  oil ;  garlic  is  also  cultivated 
to  some  extent ;  but  much  might  be  done  to  im- 
prove the  agriculture  of  these  rich  plains.  The 
Betis  rolls  tlirough  provinces  which  require  only  to 
have  their  resources  developed  to  supply  a  continent 
with  grain,  and  add  millions  to  the  wealth  of  the 
Peninsula. 

Our  little  steamer  had  a  pleasant  cabin,  adorned 


SEVILLE. 


83 


with  panelling  representing  Andalucian  scenes 
and  costumes.  These  steamers  on  the  Guadal- 
quiver  have  been  built  on  English  models,  and 
have  English  machinery.  They  sail  fast,  and  are 
now  well  patronised,  although  the  Spaniards  took 
them  at  first  for  sorcerers. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  observed 
high  land  ahead,  and  passed  several  plantations  of 
thriving  orange-trees,  giving  a  delightful  shade; 
villages  became  more  frequent ;  convents,  too,  ap- 
peared amongst  groves  of  olives,  and  at  length 
the  Giralda  of  Seville  rose  gracefully  above  the 
Christina  Gardens,  just  as  we  were  passing  the  old 
Moorish  castle  of  St.  Juan  de  Alfarache,  a  few 
miles  from  the  capital  of  Andalucia. 

Crowds  witnessed  our  disembarkation,  as  the 
quay  adjoins  the  Alameda.  One  custom-house 
vampire  here  opened  our  bags,  and  another  at  the 
gate  must  needs  also  have  a  peep  at  their  col  tents. 
The  latter  indeed  signified  that  a  peseta  would  be 
equally  satisfactory,  but  this  I  politely  declined  to 
give  him.  Threading  our  way  tlirough  narrow 
streets,  we  took  up  our  quarters  at  the  Fonda  de  la 
Reyna,  a  small  two-storied  Moorish  house,  with  a 


84 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBER. 


THE  CATHEDRAL. 


85 


court  in  the  centre,  into  which  all  the  rooms  open. 
So  balmy  was  the  air  of  evening,  that  I  sat  writing 
on  the  balcony,  looking  at  the  galaxy  of  stars 
which  shone  above  us  with  a  brilliance  unknown  in 
northern  climes,  those  bright  gems  which  Long- 
fellow, with  an  excess  of  poetic  fervour,  calls  the 
"  Forget-me-nots  of  the  angels." 

I  have  seen  nearly  all  tlie  great  churches  in 
Europe,  and  if  inclined  to  award  the  prize  for 
exterior  architecture  to  the  magnificent  Duomo  of 
Milan,  I  no  less  heartily  affinn  that,  in  point  of 
interior  gi-andeur,  none,  not  even  St.  Peter's,  "  to 
which  Diana's  marvel  was  a  cell,"  can  compare 
with  the  cathedral  of  Seville.  The  outside  of  the 
building  strikes  one  only  as  a  vast  collection  of 
cupolas,  towers,  and  pinnacles,  huddled  together 
wdth  no  great  regard  to  architectural  beauty ;  but 
enter  by  a  small  portal  near  the  Giralda,  pass 
through  a  court  of  orange-trees,  and  raise  the 
screen  whicli  faces  you;  take  three  steps  towards 
the  central  nave,  and  then  tell  me  if  in  contem- 
plating the  works  of  man  you  ever  before  expe- 
rienced such  a  sense  of  awe  produced  by  the  effect 
of  immensity,  and  the  change  from  the  bright  sun- 


shine of  Andalucia  to  the  twilight  gloom  which 
reigns  beneath  the  arches  of  that  noble  pile. 

The  eye  wanders  from  the  pillars  to  the  bronze 
railings,  from  the  railings  to  the  highly-ornamented 
choir,  and  from  it  to  the  religious  rays  which  steal 
through  the  painted  w^indows  far  above  the  balus- 
trade, itself  ninety  feet  from  the  pavement.  No 
paltry  ornaments  interfere  with  the  majesty  of 
those  noble  columns,  which  divide  the  centre  nave 
from  the  seven  aisles,  and  seem  to  form  the  very 
vestibule  to  the  abode  of  Deity. 

Fain  would  I  convey  some  idea  of  that  temple's 
sublimity, — of  the  mingled  sensations  of  vene- 
ration, wonder,  and  awe,  which  it  produces  in  the 
human  mind ;  but  words  fail  me,  and  even  while 
writing,  far  away  from  the  hallowed  dome,  I  feel 
as  if  venturing  into  the  very  presence  of  the 
Invisible. 

Without  being  in  any  unusual  degree  influenced 
by  my  feelings,  I  must  confess  that  little  surprise 
would  have  been  excited  in  my  mind,  if  while 
looking  up  toward  the  angelic  figure  which  crowns 
the  high  altar  of  the  Cathedral  at  Seville,  I  had,  like 
Moses  in  the  land  of  Midian,  heard  a  voice  saying, 


86 


THE   TAG  US  AND  THE   TIBER. 


"  Draw  not  nigh  hither,  for  the  ground  whereon 
thou  standest  is  holy." 

Four  hundred  and  thirty-one  feet  long,  by  three 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet  wide,  this  glorious  temple 
contains  ninety-three  windows,  and  is  one  hundred 
and  forty-five  feet  high.  For  the  performance  of 
its  services,  more  than  eight  hundred  persons  are 
employed;  while  five  hundred  masses  are  daily 
recited  at  its  different  altars.  So  vast  is  it,  that 
they  frequently  play  more  than  one  of  its  six  organs 
at  the  same  time,  without  causing  discord.  Twice 
I  heard  the  grand  instrument  which  has  ^vq  thou- 
sand three  hundred  stops  pour  forth  its  tones.  I 
have  listened  to  many  an  organ  in  many  a  land; 
to  that  at  Freylmrg,  imitating  the  artillery  of 
heaven;  and  to  that  at  Haerlem,  executing  passages 
of  wonderful  power.  I  have  heard  the  *'  Gloria  in 
excelsis  "  played  before  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
and  to  similar  strains  in  presence  of  the  Pope  and 
Cardinals,  but  none  of  these  performances  affected 
me  so  much  as  that  still  small  voice  of  exquisite 
sweetness,  which,  gentle  but  rich,  seemed  to  melt 
into  tenderness  every  worshipper  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Seville.     It  was  like  a  seraph  bringing  a  mes- 


THE   GUARDIAN   ANGEL. 


87 


sage  of  mercy  to  fallen  man,  attended  by  the  harps 
of  the  celestial  hosts  who  appeared  to  the  shepherds 
at  Bethlehem. 


"  Music  !  oh,  how  faint,  how  weak. 
Language  fades  before  thy  spell ! 
Why  should  Feeling  ever  speak, 
AVhen  thou  canst  breathe  her  soul  so  well  ?" 

How  tiresome,  after  gazing  on  such  a  noble 
temple,  and  listening  to  such  heavenly  strains,  to 
be  dragged  into  a  sacristy,  and  forced  to  look  at 
the  jewellery  belonging  to  the  diocese.  Many 
sculptures,  paintings  and  other  ornaments,  guide- 
books and  travellers  describe  in  this  cathedral;  but 
I  mention  only  one,  and  that  one  I  never  can  for- 
get. Thanks  to  Borrow  for  calling  my  attention 
to  it.  Facing  the  central  nave,  on  the  right  of  the 
principal  door,  stranger,  you  will  find  Murillo's 
picture  of  the  Guardian  Angel.  He  leads  by  the 
hand  the  Infant  Saviour,  and  looks  with  an  ex- 
pression of  mingled  reverence  and  tenderness  on 
his  precious  charge.  But  the  step  of  the  godlike 
child!  Who  can  fail  to  recollect  the  tread  of  the 
heavenly  one?  He  walks  as  the  Kuler  of  all,  the 
Immortal  and  Eternal  King,  who,  though  in  the 


88 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


form  of  a  babe,  **  created  all  things  by  the  word  of 
hi?  power." 

Oil  the  other  side  of  the  open  space,  to  the  east- 
ward of  the  cathedral,  you  see  the  outer  walls  of 
the  Alcazar,  or  ancient  palace  of  the  ^loorish  kings. 
Luicnng  under  an  archway,  and  passing  through 
two  uninteresting  courts,  we  anived  at  tlie  facade 
of  the  inner  abode,  a  truly  Arab  portal,  ornamented 
with  rich  tracery,  roofed  with  carved  cedar,  and 
having  on  each  side  graceful  suites  of  arcades.  (Jf 
all  the  ajmrtments  in  this  fairy  dwelling,  none  gives 
the  stranger  such  pleasure  as  the  Hall  of  the  Am- 
bassadors, forming  a  square  of  about  thirty-three 
feet  by  sixty  feet  in  height,  with  a  ceiling  on 
which  the  artists  seem  to  have  attained  to  the  per- 
fection of  decoration.  Near  it  is  the  Patio  de  los 
Muccnas,  or  Court  of  the  Dolls,  where  ten  small 
pillars  and  arches  have  produced  an  effect  bordering 
on  the  marvellous. 

In  a  room  opening  from  this  enclosure,  and 
commanding  a  view  of  the  beautiful  gardens,  dwelt 
Maria  Padilla,  the  favourite  mistress  of  Don  Pedro 
the  Cruel,  whose  influence  over  the  bloodthirsty 
king,  i^erhaps  in  no  small  degi'ce   contributed   to 


THE   ALCAZAR. 


89 


the  embellishment  of  the  Alcazar.  The  subter- 
ranean baths  called  after  this  lady  enter  from  the 
pleasure  grounds.  This  palace  was  built  for  a 
Moorish  prince,  on  the  site  of  the  Roman  qua3Stor's 
house,  and  was  much  altered  both  by  Isabella  and 
by  Charles  the  Fifth.  Philip  the  Fifth  spoiled  it 
by  subdividing  its  fine  rooms,  which,  to  complete 
the  Vandalism,  were  white- washed  by  a  barbarous 
Englishman,  Sir  John  Downie,  who  inhabited  it  in 
1813. 

Charles  the  Fifth  planned  the  gardens,  or  rather 
the  groves  of  oranges  and  lemons,  laden  with  de- 
licious fruit.  Walks  paved  with  mixed  brick  and 
porcelain,  and  perforated  with  holes,  each  one  of 
which  can  be  converted  into  a  fountain,  separate 
the  flower-beds.  By  means  of  a  handle  concealed 
on  the  person  of  some  ancient  god  or  goddess,  the 
gardener  causes  a  thousand  silvery  streams  to  burst 
from  the  paths  and  astonish  the  visitor.  The 
garden  can  thus  in  a  moment  be  cooled  by  invisible 
fountains.  The  fruit  belongs  to  an  English  bank- 
ing firm,  who  export  it  to  their  wealthy  native 
land,  before  it  has  quite  reached  its  maturity. 

Along   the   walls   of   every   apartment   in   the 


90 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Alcaxar,  runs  a  gallery,  from  which  the  ladies  un- 
perceived  could  be  spectators  of  the  feasts  and 
oompMiy.  During  tlie  palmy  days  of  Moorish 
4MBination,  when  these  courts  were  full  of  princes, 
and  Moslem  warriors,  when  fountains 


threw  up  their  cooling  streams  in  the  centre,  and 
of  music  resounded  in  the  corridors,  wliat  a 
of  enchantment  must  have  been  presented 
within  the  rough  walls  of  this  fairy  Alcazar ! 

Those  who  love  that  style  of  art  which  labours 
to  produce  an  exact  imitation  of  nature,  will  find 

pie  food  for  contemplation  in  Seville  ;  for  there, 
several  masterpieces  by  Zurbaran,  are  the 
glomus  works  whicli  have  rendered  Miirillo's  name 
imnortal  and  dear  to  Spain.  "  It  has  been  re- 
marked,'' says  Mr.  Urquhart,  **  that  when  a  person 
becomes  an  admirer  of  this  painter,  he  is  wholly 
fiMcinated  and  incapable  of  all  discrimination, 
admires  his  master's  defects,  and  despises  all  others' 
Biedts;  but  who  ever  painted  such  children  as  he 
did?  In  comparison  with  them  the  cherubs  of 
Rubens  are  foetuses."  No  school  of  artists  has 
ever  apfntMched  to  the  perfection  with  which  he 
imitated  material  objects.     As  a  copyist  of  nature. 


MURILLO. 


91 


he  excels  RafFaelle;  as  a  delineator  of  mind,  he 
must  be  considered  as  inferior  to  the  great  painters 
of  Italy.  "  His  Virgin  Mother,"  remarks  an 
accomplished  American  writer,  "is  the  stainless 
and  radiant  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  but  yet  a  wo- 
man nursing  her  first-bom.  His  beautiful  chil- 
dren, whom  no  man  ever  painted  like  Murillo, 
though  in  feature  they  have  that  which  tells  you 
'  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,'  remind  you 
always,  notwithstanding,  of  some  pure  and  happy 
beings  whom  you  have  known  and  loved  on  earth. 
They  are  of  a  better  world,  but  they  went  to  it 
from  this." 

But,  although  Murillo  certainly  did  possess  this 
peculiarity  of  the  Spanish  school,  he  knew  well 
also  how  to  paint  poetic  beauty,  and  produce  that 
"  divinity  of  expression "  for  which  Guido  and 
Rafi'aelle  are  so  famed.  Full  of  human  tender- 
ness, he  has  left  behind  him  some  noble  examples 
of  the  loftiest  spiritual  conceptions.  The  Hospital 
of  La  Caridad  and  the  ]\Iuseum  contain  his  greatest 
works.  In  the  former  I  admired  his  San  Juan  de 
Dios,  in  which  he  represents  the  founder  of  the 
institution  bearing  on  his  back  a  poor  man,  and 


92 


THE  TAGUS  AND  TUE   TIBER. 


MURILLO. 


93 


miraculously  assisted  by  an  angel,  who  with  his  pre- 
sence illuminates  the  darkness  of  night,  and  an  Infant 
Sa\'iour  painted  on  the  panel.  The  grouping  of 
**  The  Loaves  and  Fishes  '*  appeared  to  me  imper- 
fect ;  the  artist  likewise  seems  to  have  committed  a 
serious  error  in  allowing  two  of  the  disciples  to 
talk  to  each  other,  while  our  Lord  is  giving  thanks  ; 
but  in  what  language  shall  I  attempt  to  describe 
that  gem  of  the  collection,  *'  Moses  striking  the 
Bock/'  by  many  thought  to  be  Murillo's_  master- 

For  hours  together  did  Sir  David  Wilkie  gaze 
with  admiration  on  this  prodigy  of  art.  The 
Agones  and  groups  are  exquisite,  while  the  ex- 
pfression  on  the  face  of  a  boy,  who  sits  on  the  back 
of  a  camel,  may  be  safely  set  down  as  unrivalled 
in  the  annals  of  painting.  Moses  has  just  struck 
the  rock,  and  stands  in  a  dignified  attitude  beside 
It ;  while  the  people  are  so  eager  to  drink,  that 
no  two  use  similar  vessels  to  hold  the  grateful 
liquid.  Never  did  ^lurillo  give  such  proof  of  his 
ooosmnmate  talent  as  in  the  harmonious  grouping, 
the  inimitable  countenances,  and  the  poetical  com- 
]x»sition  of  this  justly  celebrated  "  Las  Aguas." 


\ 


The  ]\Iuseum  contains,  in  addition  to  a  number 
of  very  inferior  pictures,  several  line  works  by 
Zurbaran,  Castillo,  Roelas,  &c.,  but  my  recol- 
lections centre  in  Murillo's  room,  with  its  eighteen 
paintings  by  tliat  prince  of  art.  No  pen  can 
describe  the  joyous  features  and  piercing  eyes 
of  his  children,  the  emaciated  faces  and  coarse 
garments  of  his  monks,  the  tottering  steps  of  his 
paupers.  He  himself  considered  "the  St.  Thomas 
relieving  Beggars,"  presen^d  in  this  apartment, 
as  his  "  chef-d'oeuvre."  It  is  really  hard  to  say 
whether  this  one  or  "  the  Moses "  deserves  the 
highest  praise.  I  never  can  forget  the  countenances 
of  these  mendicants.  Gazing  upon  them,  you 
almost  expect  to  hear  a  piteous  supplication 
for  charity.  Need  I  mention  '*  the  St.  Anthony,'' 
"  St.  Francis  embracing  the  Dead  Saviour,"  the 
very  embodiment  of  reverential  tenderness,  "  St. 
Leander  and  St.  Buenventura,"  "  St.  Felix  pre- 
senting the  Infimt  Saviour,"  and  a  Virgin  and  Child, 
said  to  have  been  painted  on  a  dinner  napkin 
as  a  present  to  the  cook  of  the  Capuchin 
Convent,  where  the  artist  bad  been  hospitably 
entertained  ? 


H 


94 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


Words  might  indeed  be  added  to  words  ;  but 
words  cannot  convey  to  the  reader's  mind  an  idea 
of  "those  beautiful  things,  not  only  warm  with 
life,  but  radiant  with  inspiration,"  which  led  the 
Andalucians  to  say  that  "  Murillo  vi6  al  cielo, 
y  lo  pint6,"  **  had  seen  Heaven,  and  painted  what  he 


saw." 


Every  successive  work  of  this  great  man  which 
I  have  seen,  has  increased  the  admiration  which 
I  first  felt  on  beholding  a  picture  by  him ;  and  no 
paintings,  even  the  masterjiiecea  of  Raffaelle  and 
Guido,  have  afforded  me  greater  pleasure  than  those 
few  triumphs  of  genius  in  the  public  buildings 
of  Seville.  Although  a  devoted  admirer  of 
Murillo,  I  feel  myself  inadequate  justly  to  celebrate 
his  praises,  or  even  to  express  that  strong  sense 
of  admiration  which  I  entertain  of  works  which 
have  ranked  him  amongst 

"  The  grand  old  masters, 
Whose  distant  footsteps  echo 
Through  the  corridors  of  tmie." 


J 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  RECORDS  OF  COLUMBUS  AT  SEVILLE— THE  UNIVERSITY — THE 
GIRALDA  TOWER — PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  CITY — RETURN  TO 
CADIZ — THE  "MERCURIO" — TRAFALGAR — THE  PILLARS  OP  HER- 
CULES— PHOSPHORESCENT  WAVES — FIRST  SIGHT  OF  GIBRALTAR 
— SAN  ROQUE — THE  FREE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND — REFUSAL  OF 
A  BITE  FOR  A  PRESBYTERIAN  PLACE  OF  WORSHIP  BY  THE 
AUTHORITIES  OF  THE  ROCK —  BRITISH  COLONIAL  GOVERNORS 
AND  THEIR  POLICY — NOTES  ON  GIBRALTAR,  THE  TOWN BAT- 
TERIES AND  VILL^VS — AN  INSTANCE  OF  FRENCH  MANNERS — 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PROPRIETY  OF  ENGLAND  RETAINING  THB 
FORTRESS — rrS  POSITION — MILITARY  STRENGTH,  AND  INFLUENCE 
IN  SOUTHERN  EUROPE — THE  SPANISH  TARIFF,  NOT  THE  GUNS 
OF  GIBRALTAR,  THE   CAUSE   OF   THE  CONTRABAND   TRADE. 

Adjoining  the  Cathedral  of  Seville  is  a  fine 
building,  the  lower  flat  of  which  the  merchants 
use  as  an  exchange,  while  a  handsome  marble 
staircase  conducts  to  the  upper  story,  where  are 
preserved  the  archives  of  the  Indies,  from  the 
discovery  of  America  down  to  the  present  day. 
In  the  inner  room  the  stranger  may  see  the  walls 
hung  round   with    Arrowsmith's    English   maps. 


96 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBEK. 


side  by  side  with  cases  containing  the  despatches 
of  the  "  Great  Admiral."  Oh  Spain,  Spain,  how 
art  thou  fallen!  Shade  of  Columbus!  Your 
countrymen  of  the  present  day  buy  charts  from 
northern  islanders  to  show  them  the  way  to  the 
regions  where  you  first  planted  the  banner  of 
Castile  ;  from  the  same  islanders  they  purcliase 
steamers  to  cross  that  ocean,  which  the  "  Pinta,'' 
when  she  reached  St.  Salvador,  first  proved  had 
a  bound ! 

Desirous  of  visiting  the  University,  we  were 
denied  entrance,  as  examinations  were  in  progress, 
and  a  crowd  of  students  at  the  portal  "  politely  " 
hooted  us.  Eight  hundred  of  these  young  men 
attend  the  classes,  and  so  troublesome  have  they 
lately  become,  that  the  professors  have  been 
obliged  to  abolish  the  college  dress,  in  order  that 
refractor}'  students  may  be  more  easily  recognised 
by  the  police.  When  all  dressed  alike  the  autho- 
rities  found   it    no   easy   matter   to   identify   the 


ringleaders  of  disturbances. 


To  the  height  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  Moorish  courtyard  at  the  north-east 
door  of  the  cathedral,   rises   tlie   beautiful  Giralda 


I 


THE  GIRALDA   TOWER. 


97 


Tower,  resembling  somewhat  St.  Marco's  Campanile 
at  Venice.  It  was  built  in  1196  by  Geber,  and 
has  a  motto  in  large  letters  near  the  top,  from 
Proverbs  xviii.  10 :  "  Nomen  Domini  fortissima 
turris."  From  one  of  the  balconies  the  muezzin 
in  Mahometan  times  summoned  the  faithful  to 
prayers.  Large  bells,  called  after  saints,  and 
sounded  by  men  pulling  them  round  with  ropes, 
now  serve  the  same  purpose  to  the  Christians. 
Just  as  we  reached  the  termination  of  the  inclined 
plane,  paved  with  brick,  which  leads  to  the  top, 
this  tolling  began,  and  for  a  minute  or  two  quite 
stunned  us.  On  the  summit  of  the  whole,  a  colossal 
statue  representing  Faith  holds  in  one  hand  an 
olive  branch,  and  in  the  other  a  shield.  By  means 
of  the  latter  it  obeys  the  wind,  and  thus  gives  to 
the  tower  the  name  of  Giralda,  or  weathercock. 

The  day  being  fine,  we  enjoyed  a  view  of  the 
city  and  neighbourhood.  Below  us  lay  Seville,  an 
oval  patch  of  brown  roofs  and  white  houses  in  a 
dreary,  treeless  plain.  So  narrow  are  the  streets, 
as  to  be  scarcely  visible  ;  the  churches  tower  above 
the  other  edifices,  but  cannot  boast  of  architectural 
elegance.     Looking  towards  the  river,  we  saw  a 

VOL.  L  F 


98 


THK  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBEK. 


bridge  in  process  of  building,  to  connect  the  city 
with  the  poor  suburb  of  Triana,  the  abode  of  the 
Gipsies.  Further  down  was  the  spacious  bullring, 
and  below  it  again  the  Torre  del  Oro,  or  Tower  of 
Gold,  which  in  Moorish  times  commanded  the 
river  by  means  of  a  chain  attached  to  a  similar  fort 
on  the  opj>osite  side.  It  is  now  used  as  a  custom- 
house, and,  although  very  ancient,  appears  new  as 
well  as  handsome. 

Southwards  we  looked  down  upon  the  Duke  of 
Montpensier's  palace,  with  its  extensive  gardens, 
the  government  manufactory  of  tobacco,  where  four 
thousand  people  work,  and  the  cavalry  ban*acks, 
the  Ronda  Mountains  in  the  distance  rising  like 
giants  from  the  plain ;  while  at  our  feet  in  a  cluster 
were  the  Cathedral,  the  Alcazar,  the  Exchange, 
and  the  Palace  of  tlie  Archbishop. 

Moorisli  architecture  prevails  in  Seville.  The 
large  houses  have  all  interior  courts,  in  which 
flowers  are  cultivated,  and  fountains  play,  and  over 
which  in  summer  they  spread  awnings  to  keep  out 
the  burning  rays  of  an  xVndalucian  sun.  The  city 
contains  about  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants. 
On  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  it  rose  to  be 


STATE   OF   SEVILLE. 


99 


a  place  of  greater  importance  than  it  was  when 
capital  of  Spain  before  the  court  removed  to 
Valladolid. 

Students  of  Spanish  history  know  that  there  the 
Inquisition  had  its  head-quarters,  and  that  witliin 
its    walls,    in    three    hundred   years,    this    hellish 
tribunal  consigned  thirty-live  thousand  people,  the 
best  and  most  industrious  in  the  province,  to  the 
devouring  flames.     Somehow  this  city  has  obtained 
a    bad    name   for    robberies    and    assassinations. 
Thither,  we  are  told,  ''  Don  Quixote's  fellow-tra- 
vellers entreated  him  to  accompany  them,  it  being 
a  place  the  most  likely  to  furnish  him  with  adven- 
tures,  since  they  were   to  be  met  with   there  in 
every  street,  and   at  every  turning."      If  recent 
travellers  have  not  deceived  us,  certain  quarters  of 
Seville  have  their  perils  now,  as  well  as  in  the 
time  of  Cervantes.     Most  people  carry  arms  after 
nightfall,  when  they  walk  in  the  less-frequented 
alleys.     Meeting  a  grandee  mufiied  in  his  cloak, 
you  may  sometimes  perceive  the  point  of  a  naked 
blade  peeping  out  from  the  folds  of  the  garment. 

The  Andalucian  capital,  though  rich  in  ancient 
remains,  cannot  be  called  a  decaying  city.     On 

F  2 


100 


THE   TAGUIS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


the  contrary,  Malaga  and  Barcelona  perhaps  alone 
excepted,  it  flourishes  more  than  any  other  place  in 
8pain.  Several  manufactories  have  lately  been 
erected,  and  many  improvements  are  in  progi*ess.  If 
not  so  rich  and  prosperous  as  when  the  wealth  of  a 
newly-discovered  world  was  pouring  up  the  Guadal- 
•luiver,  Seville  is  neither  a  Carthagena  nor  a  Venice. 

It  is  amusing  to  wander  on  an  evening  to  the 
Alameda,  and  watch  the  horsemen  passing  by. 
Their  steeds  throw  up  their  fore-feet,  so  as  to  show 
all  the  iron  on  their  hoofs,  and  appear  to  go  fast, 
whilst  in  reality  they  do  not.  Every  rider  uses  a 
curb  bit  of  tremendous  power,  with  which  he  could 
pull  any  horse  on  his  haunches  in  a  moment.  The 
saddles  and  stirrups  are  richly  decorated,  but  not 
by  any  means  elegant. 

^lany  more  pages  might  have  been  devoted  by 
me  to  a  description  of  this  famous  city,  which 
••  boasts  her  strength,  her  wealth,  and  site  of  ancient 
days  ;"  but  I  merely  wish  to  record  a  few  of  my 
own  impressions,  not  to  reproduce  what  the  reader 
will  find  in  guide-books,  or  to  attempt  a  critical 
examination  of  those  works  of  art  which  Mr. 
Stirling,  and  other  able  \VTiters,   have  illustrated 


THE   GUADALQUIVER. 


101 


witli  so  much  talent.  It  would  be  absurd  in  me 
to  expect  that  those  who  have  Ford  and  Boitow 
in  their  hands,  would  wish  me  elaborately  to  de- 
scribe the  sights  of  Seville.  And  yet  I  leave 
that  fair  city  with  regret,  as  the  Rapido  steams 
down  the  Guadalquiver,  and  the  Giralda,  last  of 
its  buildings,  gradually  disappears  bv^hind  the 
orange  groves  which  shelter  the  capital  of  love 
and  song. 

Our  passengers  included  General  Concha  and 
suite,  on  his  way  to  the  island  of  Cuba,  where,  as 
Captain-General,  he  has  since  successfully  pro- 
tected the  honour  of  the  Spanish  arms. 

I  always  associate  the  sunny  Guadalquiver  with 
the  loss  of  my  hat,  which  fell  overboard  during 
this  passage,  and  disappeared  beneath  the  muddy 
waters.  The  incident,  trifling  though  it  was,  has 
quite  changed  the  current  of  my  ideas  regarding 
this  classic  stream. 

Another  evening  walk  in  the  principal  square  of 
Cadiz  !  There  I  went  to  see  the  elegant  and  beau- 
tiful Gaditanas,  as  they  flitted  in  their  lace  man- 
tillas by  the  gaslight  below  the  trees. 

Next  morning  early  we  were  on  board  a  small 


102 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


boat,  tacking  against  a  headwind  to  reach  the 
Spanish  steamer  Mercurio,  which  lay  in  tlie  bay. 
This  celebrated  vessel — for  all  travellers  on  the 
Spanish  coast  know  her  well — was  built  in  Liver- 
pool, in  1837,  and  has  neither  been  cleaned  nor 
examined  since.  Wlien  the  ^\^nds  are  contrary 
she  makes  no  way  at  all ;  sometimes,  it  is  said, 
she  has  l^een  driven  backwards,  and  frequently 
she  has  insisted  upon  touching  at  ports  which  her 
crew  had  no  intention  of  visiting.  If  ever  vessel 
deserved  the  appellation  of  "  tub,"  the  Mercurio  is 
that  vessel;  for  she  took  fourteen  hours,  under 
favourable  circumstances,  to  steam  the  eighty  miles 
between  Cadiz  and  Algeziras.  For  this,  too,  we 
each  had  to  pay  no  less  a  sum  than  thirty-three 
shillings  sterling.  A  steamer  of  ordinary  sailing 
qualities  would  have  been  half-way  to  Gibraltar 
before  this  box-built  and  foul-bottomed  hulk  had 
fairly  got  round  the  light-house,  or  at  least  lost 
sight  of  the  Cathedral  towers. 

As  the  coast  of  Andalucia  is  very  uninteresting, 
I  laid  myself  quietly  down  to  sleep,  expecting  to 
awaken  within  hail  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  But, 
alas  !    I  had  good  reason  for  agreeing  with  Aga- 


I 


p 


TRAFALGAR. 


103 


memnon,  that  "the  ample  proposition  that  hope 
makes  in  earthly  designs,  fails  in  its  promised 
largeness;"  for,  when  I  roused  myself  from  a 
comfortable  slumber,  there  were  still  the  walls  of 
Cadiz  apparently  a  very  short  distance  off,  on  our 
larboard  beam.  Could  we  have  cast  anchor  V 
This  simple  explanation  of  our  position  occuiTcd 
at  once  to  my  mind  ;  but  it  proved  incorrect,  for 
smoke  issued  from  the  funnel,  the  paddle-wheels 
revolved,  and  the  captain  stood  on  the  quarter- 
deck, attired  in  a  dressing-gown  and  slippers,  and 
looking  as  knowing  as  if  the  Mercurio  had  been 
steaming  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  knots  an  hour 
between  Scylla  and  Charybdis.  Tediously  the 
hours  passed  away,  till,  at  two  o'clock,  we  made 
a  stony  headland  with  a  solitary  tower,  seaward 
from  which,  some  four  miles  off  the  shore.  Nelson 
fell  in  the  arms  of  victory. 

Scarcely  had  we  time  to  mark  that  now  lonely 
Trafalgar,  where  England  so  signally  demonstrated 
her  maritime  superiority,  when  the  wind  l)egan  to 
blow  in  gusts,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  current 
which  always  runs  into  the  Mediterranean,  we 
might,  despite  the  efforts  of  an  eiglity  horse-powov 


,w 


104 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


engine,  have  been  driven  to  seek  adventures  on  the 
wide  Atlantic.  After  doubling  the  headland  of 
Tarifa,  however,  daylight  and  the  gale  both  dis- 
appeared ;  we  could,  however,  perceive  Cape  Spar- 
tel,  in  Africa,  looming  on  the  starboard.  In  cahn 
water  the  Mer curio  sped  her  way  towards  Alge- 
ziras,  leaving  behind  her  a  bright  phosphorescent 
track,  and  recalling  to  my  mind  those  beautiful 
lines  in  the  ''  Lord  of  the  Isles  :" — 

"  Awaked  before  the  rushing  prow, 
The  mimic  fires  of  ocean  glow, 

Those  lightnings  of  the  wave.' 

At  ten  o'clock  we  anchored  off  the  little  Spanish 
town  of  Algeziras,  having  left  Cadiz  at  half-past 
seven  in  the  morning.  Pity  that  no  American 
was  on  board  to  compare  the  exploits  of  the 
steamers  which  sail  twenty-two  miles  an  hour  on 
the  Hudson,  or  Long  Island  Sound,  with  the  rate 
of  progress  on  that  coast  from  which  Columbus 
departed  on  his  voyage  of  discovery.  What 
changes  have  happened  since  then !  The  best 
steamers  in  the  Spanish  navy  at  present  are  two 
which,  having  been  superseded  on  the  line  be- 
tween New  York  and  Liverpool  by  faster  ships, 
were    pui'chased    by    the    Spanish    Government. 


GIBRALTAE. 


105 


Under  new  names,  the  Caledonia,  and  my  old 
friend  the  Hihernia,  have  been  lately  figuring  on 
the  coast  of  Cuba  as  war  vessels  belonging  to 
Queen  Isabella  of  Spain. 

Very  early  next  morning  I  went  on  deck  and 
immediately  looked  southward,  where,  at  the  end 
of  a  sandy  promontory,  between  me  and  the  hills 
of  Africa,  rose  the  rock  of  Gibraltar.    Like  a  sulky 
lion,  watching  but  disdaining  its  prey,  does  this 
isolated  mountain  of  adamant  look  gloomily  across 
to  Algeziras.     A  Levanter  had  blown  the  day  be- 
fore, so  a  nightcap  of  mist  crowned  Gibel  Taric, 
so  called  l^ecause  the  Arab  commander  there  won 
the  first  of  those  engagements  which  overthrew 
the  Gothic  monarchy.     Having  landed  at  Tarifa, 
and,  like  Cortes,  burned  his  ships  to  cut  off  from  his 
men  the  means  of  escape  in  case  of  disaster,  Taric, 
shouting,  "  Your  only  chance  is  in  victory  1  "  led 
his  troops  forward,  till  Theodomir's  army  being 
put  to  the  rout,  he  planted  the  crescent  upon  the 
rock  of  Calpe,  the  prelude  of  those  triumphs  which, 
after  the  battle  of  the  Guadelete,  filled  Europe  w4th 
a  superstitions  dread  of  the  Saracens. 

Having  landed  at  Algeziras,  and  obtained  pass- 

F  3 


106 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ports,  we  made  a  bargain  with  four  chattering, 
queer-looking  Spanish  boatmen,  to  row  us  over  the 
bay,  in  a  little  cockleshell  of  a  skiff,  to  Gibraltar. 
On  our  way  we  disturbed  several  beautiful  flying- 
fish,  and  passing  over  the  spot  where  sank  the 
burning  Missouri,  in  about  an  hour  stopped  at  the 
little  quay  of  the  fortress. 

"British  subjects,  Sir?"  asked  a  handsome 
soldier  on  guard.  I  felt  inclined  to  reply  in 
American,  "  Yes,  Siree ;"  but  the  emphasis  would 
have  invalidated  the  answer.  Permitted  to  pass 
the  lines,  we  found  our  way  along  the  semi-Eng- 
lish, semi-Moorish  streets,  to  "  the  Club-house." 

On  the  forenoon  of  our  arrival,  an  esteemed 
friend  drove  us  out  to  the  village  of  San  Roque, 
six  miles  distant,  and  commanding  a  fine  view  of 
Gibraltar.  The  road,  which  is  pretty  good,  is 
kept  in  repair  by  a  voluntary  subscri])tion  among 
the  English!  It  passes  first  along  the  neutral 
ground  on  the  isthmus,  and  then,  crossing  the 
Spanish  lines,  skirts  the  bay. 

Next  day  was  Sunday  ;  it  rained  in  ton-ents  ; 
so  heavy,  indeed,  that  we  got  quite  wet  while 
walking  a  few  paces  to  the  Scotch  place  of  wor- 


FREE   CHURCH. 


lo: 


ship.  The  only  Presbyterian  congregation  on  the 
"Rock"  are  connected  with  the  Free  Church. 
They  number  about  200,  including  soldiers,  and 
have  generally,  as  their  minister,  some  clergyman 
belonging  to  the  parent  body,  who  seeks  health 
and  strength  in  a  warmer  climate.  The  worship- 
pers at  present  meet  in  an  upper  room,  but  are 
anxious  to  obtain  a  suitable  site  on  which  t<> 
erect  a  chapel.  This,  the  military  authorities,  at 
the  instigation,  it  is  alleged,  of  dignitaries  belong- 
ing to  the  Church  of  England,  have  hitherto 
denied  them.  Nor  do  they  refuse  the  request  in 
a  straightforvvard  manner.  That  would  be  to  lay 
themselves  open  to  the  charge  of  having  infringed 
that  great  principle  of  religious  liberty  which  has 
done  so  much  to  consolidate  the  power  of  Britain. 
Wise  in  their  generation,  those  persecutors  at  heart 
have  adopted  another  course. 

*'  Certainly  you  shall  have  a  site,"  say  they, 
"and  here  is  an  admirable  one,"  pointing  to  a 
quarry  half-way  up  the  mountain,  where  they  well 
know  a  congregation  could  not  be  assembled. 

This  and  other  stances  equally  out  of  the 
question,  they  have  repeatedly  offered ;  but  when 


..„,,.  -..-^s-^^W^^*^*^^'^^***"™**^*'^*'^'^^^*^ 


-^■«{^E*'"'^^*^  -w*"^ 


*- 


108 


THE   TAGUS    AND   THE   TIBER. 


the  Free  Churchmen  mention  any  situation  which 
woukl  even  be  tolerably  suitable,  the  reply  in- 
variably is,  "  that  we  are  sorry  it  cannot  be  given, 
it  is  required  for  military  purposes;"  the  plain 
meaning  of  which  is,  "  A  chapel  x^laced  there  would 
attract  scores  of  people  from  the  cathedral,"  the 
preachers  in  which  can  by  no  means  be  compared 
with  those  talented  men  who  have  lately  gone  out 
from  Scotland,  and  whose  superiority  even  the 
Episcopalians  cannot  but  acknowledge. 

The   annoyances   experienced   l)y    the    Presby- 
terians of  Gibraltar  in  attempting  to  erect  a  place 
of  worship,  reflect  discredit  on  the  British  name, 
and  must,  if  government,  of  whom  better  things 
might  l>e  expected,  continue  to  refuse  justice,  be 
brought  before  parliament.     Does  Mr.  Fox  ^laule, 
himself  a  member  of   that  church  v/hich    cannot 
obtain  a  suitable  building  to  assemble  its  adherents, 
know    the    state  of  matters?     Can  it  be  that  a 
cabinet  in  which  he  occupies  a  place,  has  set  its 
seal  on  such  paltry  exclusiveness  ?     Whether  this 
be  the  case  or  not,  it  will  benefit  all  parties  con- 
cerned in  thus  withholding  the  natural  liberties  of 
Englishmen,  if  a  suitable  site  be  without  delay 


COLOXTAL  GOVERNORS. 


109 


i 


granted;  for  it  will  save  an  exposure  in  the  British 
senate,  which  will  add  no  honour  either  to  the 
authorities  of  Gibraltar,   or  their  masters  at  the 

Colonial  Office.* 

It  is  very  lamentable  that  a  government,  which 
at  home  shows  so  much  liberality,  should  in  many 
instances  have  proved  itself  most  illiberal  abroad. 
The  acts  of  some  of  our  goverfiorsof  dependencies 
accord  more  with  the  policy  of  Naples  or  Russia, 
than  that  of  free  England.  The  evil  lies  in  ap- 
pointing to  important  commands  men  without 
ability,  sometimes  without  common  sense. 

As  far  as  civil  expenses  are  concerned,  Gibraltar 
causes  no  burden  to  the  mother  country.  The 
population,— consisting  of  twenty-one  thousand, 
about  six  thousand  five  hundred  of  whom  are  Pro- 
testants, one  thousand  Jews,  and  the  remainder  of 
Spanish  descent,— pay  £28,000  per  annum  in  taxes, 
which  the  governor  lately  resolved  to  increase. 
Against  this  the  people  protested,  and  appealed  to 
Earl  Grey,  urging  that  they  were  already  suffi- 
ciently burdened,  and  that  the  expenses  ought  to 

•  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  authorities  have  yielded 
the  long  contested  point,  and  the  Presbyterians  have  obtained, 6y 
purchase,  a  suitable  site  for  their  chapel. 


^Si^WiK«''^«^^*»B«' 


r  ^^   ^%„^^^'^^ir<-'fii^^'-'  -^J^ 


I 


1 


no 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


be  reduced  to  correspond  with  the  decline  in  trade. 
This  remonstrance  having  proved  successful,  the 
sapient  Sir  Robert  Gardiner  has  erased  from  the 
list  of  parties  to  be  invited  to  government-house, 
the  names  of  those  who  signed  it— the  wealthiest 
and  most  influential  men  in  Gibraltar— the  very 
individuals  who   pay  his   excellency  £5,000   per 

annum. 

"  The  patronage  of  the  Colonial  Oflice,"  wrote 
the  late  highly  esteemed  Charles  BuUer,  ''  is  the 
prey  of  every  hungry  department  of  our  govern- 
ment.    On  it  the  Horse  Guards  quarters  its  worn- 
out  general  officers  as  governors;  the  Admiralty 
cribs  its  share;  and  jobs  which  even  parliamentary 
rapacity  would  blush  to  ask  from  the  Treasury,  are 
perpetrated  with  impunity  in  the  silent  realm  of 
Mr.  Mother  Country."*   To  persevere  in  this  policy 
is  not  the  way  to  preserv^e  intact  the  dependencies 
of  that  empire  on  which  the  sun  never  sets. 

The  town  of  Gibraltar  consists  of  one  long 
street,  with  lanes  at  right  angles  to  it,  built  on  a 
sloping  part  of  the  hill,  facing  the  west,  and 
looking  across  the   bay  towards  Algeziras.     The 

•  «  Mr.  Mother  Country  of  the  Colonial  Office,"  quoted  in 
Wakefield's  "  Art  of  Colonization,"  p.  292. 


"  THE   ROCK. 


7? 


Ill 


houses,  generally  speaking,  resemble  those  in  Ger- 
many;  some,  however,  are  more  in  the  English 
style,  while  others  are  evidently  Moorish.  The 
walls,  especially  the  ramparts  fronting  the  sea, 
bristle  with  cannon,  and  British  sentries  silently 
guard  every  comer.  How  different  these  erect, 
dignified  men,  from  the  lounging  chattering  senti- 
nels on  the  Spanish  lines ! 

Above  the  houses,  "the  Rock,"  a  brown  crag 
with  a  few  scattered  trees  and  cottages,  rises  per- 
j^endicularly  till  it  terminates  in  three  points,  the 
highest  and  furthest  west  l)eing  crowned  with  a 
flagstaff.  Towards  the  feandy  isthmus  connecting 
this  isolated  hill  with  Spain,  it  presents  a  wall  of 
adamant  fifteen  hundred  feet  high,  perforated  w4th 
galleries  and  portholes,  out  of  which  peep  guns  of 
no  trifling  calibre,  warning  enemies  of  the  reception 
they  may  expect,  if  foolish  enough  to  attack  a 
place  quite  impregnable  when  garrisoned  by  five 
thousand  British  soldiers,  and  where  every  pre- 
paration has  been  made  to  bafl^e  the  ingenuity  of 
the  most  subtle  foe.  On  a  signal  given,  a  thousand 
cannon  could  l)e  in  less  than  five  minutes  dealing 
death  and  destruction  around. 


II 


r 


12 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


GALLERIES. 


113 


The  gates  are  shut  punctually  at  sunset.  After 
that  hour  no  key  can  unlock  Gibraltar.  In  some 
continental  strongholds,  silver  can  always  open  a 
postern,  even  at  midnight;  but  no  such  appliance 
can  procure  an  evasion  of  the  martial  laws  of 
England. 

Foreigners  may  not  reside  longer  than  three 
months  within  the  walls,  and  for  that  period  they 
must  find  a  resident  to  he  their  security.  One 
meets  on  the  well-paved  streets  a  strange  mixture 
of  Spaniards,  "  Scorpions,"  or  persons  born  on  the 
^'  Rock,"  Jews,  Moors,  Arabs,  and  Englishmen. 
So  influential  are  the  children  of  Israel,  that  Satur- 
day has  been  recognised  as  a  business  holiday. 
We  saw  the  congregation  of  the  synagogue  dis- 
persing on  the  forenoon  of  our  arrival.  The  Bar- 
bary  Jews  are  said  to  be  a  most  superstitious 
race. 

Gibraltar  is  a  free  port,  and  has  no  searchers  of 
baggage.  Provisions  are  plentiful,  and  the  beef 
comes  from  the  African  coast.  Accordino:  to  the 
ancient  tradition,  Hercules,  to  mark  the  termina- 
tion of  his  travels,  threw  up  this  rock,  and  that  of 
Giliel  Musa,  above  Ceuta,  on  the  opposite  side  of 


the  straits.  Most  people  believe  that  the  entire  hill 
is  perforated  with  caverns  like  a  honeycomb,  as  no 
end  has  been  as  yet  found  to  any  of  the  numerous 
caves  which  branch  off  from  the  great  grotto  of 
St.  Michael,  on  the  eastern  face  of  the  rock. 

Our  hotel  occupies  one  side  of  the  Commercial 
Square,  in  the  centre  of  which  stands  the  Exchange. 
The  famous  battery  called  "  the  Line  Wall "  protects 
these  houses  from  the  waves.  A  pretty  Alameda, 
laid  out  by  General  and  Lady  Don,  lies  immediately 
outside  the  southern  wall  of  the  town,  on  the  road 
towards  Europa  Point,  where  are  the  lighthouse, 
numerous  batteries,  and  a  pavilion  of  the  gover- 
nor's. On  approaching  "Old  Gib"  from  Algeziras, 
you  observe,  about  one-third  of  the  way  up  the 
Rock,  just  at  the  point  where  it  becomes  precipi- 
tous, and  the  excavations  begin,  an  old  Moorish 
castle,  much  battered  by  the  balls  which  struck  it, 
during  the  ever  memorable  four  years'  siege  which 
Gibraltar  sustained  against  the  combined  forces  of 
France  and  Spain.  Ascending  to  this  position, 
we  got  a  corporal  of  artillery  to  show  us  those 
extraordinary  galleries  which,  cut  in  the  li\ang 
rock,  twelve  feet  from  the  edge  of  the  cliffs,  and 


';^.!mm^^T''^^^'--'~  ' 


I 


%\  ■ 
■«♦■ 


il 


|W 


114 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


broad  enough  to  admit  horsemen,  open  up  at 
various  points  into  chambers,  filled  with  cannon, 
carronades,  mortars,  cartridges,  balls,  ramrods,  and 
other  instruments  of  war.  Every  opening  reveals 
a  murderous  gim,  one  of  the  eight  hundred  and 
seventy  which  defend  Gibraltar  against  foreign 
foes.  Entering  by  an  excavated  path  we  were 
ushered  into  the  first  gallery,  from  which  two  or 
three  others,  ^vith  embrasures  at  every  short  dis- 
tance, lead  upw^ards  in  a  southern  direction.  These 
guns  command  the  isthmus,  gates  and  shipping. 
They  terminate  on  a  platform  of  rock,  from  w^hich 
you  look  down  on  the  neutral  ten'itory  and  the 
Mediterranean  Sea. 

From  this  point  we  mounted  by  a  rocky  path 
to  the  higher  galleries,  from  which  shot  can  be 
projected  quite  across  the  bay  upon  the  hills  of 
Spain.  They  end  in  a  circular  chamber  bristling 
with  cannon,  and  called  St.  George's  Hall.  Eight 
hundred  feet  perpendicularly  below  it  the  Mediter- 
ranean breaks  on  the  storm-beaten  shore. 

We  descended  by  a  zigzag  ladder  from  this 
gallery  to  Cornwallis  Battery,  hollowed  out  of  the 
cliff   some    distance   below.     In  these   excavated 


f 


8T.  MICHAEL  S  CAVE. 


115 


fortifications  they  keep  everything  in  such  order 
and  so  wxU  prepared  for  action,  that  on  very  short 
notice  a  terrific  fire  could  be  opened  on  the  lines. 
Between  the  upper  and  lower  galleries,  other  rows 
of  cannon  and  mortars,  unseen  from  below,  being 
hidden  by  the  rocks,  but  no  less  effective  and 
deadly,  surround  the  solitary  powder  magazine,  on 
which  a  sentinel  continually  keeps  his  eye.  An 
excellent  path  conducts  from  this  point  to  the 
summit  of  the  rock  and  telegraph  station,  com- 
manding a  spendid  view  of  the  straits,  the  bay, 
and  the  coasts  of  ^lorocco  and  Spain. 

A  great  variety  of  southern  plants  grow  on  this 
stony  hill-side,  especially  dwarf  date-palms,  on 
which  the  monkeys  at  certain  seasons  feed.  These 
animals  are  rarely  seen,  excepting  during  fine 
weather  and  east  wind,  two  things  which  very 
seldom  exist  at  the  same  time  in  that  latitude. 

After  a  visit  to  St.  Michael's  Cave,  a  most  sin- 
gular opening  in  the  rock,  the  termination  of 
which  no  man  has  yet  reached,  although  several 
have  perished  in  the  attempt,  we  descended  the 
western  slope  of  the  cliffs,  enjoying  a  most  beau- 
tiful prospect.  Below  us  were  Southport  Barracks, 


1 


116 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


LANGUAGE. 


117 


«ll 


surrounded  by  houses  and  villas,  the  gardens  of 
which  displayed  innumerable  groves  of  oranges, 
pines,  chestnuts,  and  pomegranates,  while  beyond 
the  buildings  the  ramparts  looked  down  on  the 
con\4ct  hulks.  On  our  left.  Windmill  Barracks 
occupied  part  of  the  stony  waste  called  Europa 
Point,  the  southern  extremity  of  the  rock.  Be- 
tween them  and  Southport  rose  a  few  grey  cliffs, 
contrasting  well  with  the  green  foliage  of  the  \nlla 
pleasure-grounds  amongst  them.  On  our  right, 
the  Alameda,  the  little  town,  and  shipping  agree- 
ably varied  the  view ;  while  before  us,  stretching 
away  from  the  lighthouse  towards  the  coast  of 
Africa,  a  distinctly  marked  line  indicated  the 
junction  of  the  blue  waters  of  the  bay  with  the 
darker  waves  of  the  straits. 

The  drive  roimd  the  Rock  from  the  town  to  the 
governor's  ugly  summer  residence  on  the  coast  is 
exceedingly  pretty,  affording  much  variety  both  of 
scenery  and  prospect. 

Gibraltar  left  a  most  pleasing  impression  on  my 
mind.  Expecting  to  see  a  barren  rock  without 
roads,  vegetation,  or  natural  beauties,  I  found  a 
neat   town   with   a   pretty   Alameda,  picturesque 


s 

J 


walks,  excellent  carriage  drives,  handsome  villas, 
and  a  cheerful  bustling  population.  Well  con- 
tented may  British  soldiers  be  if  they  never  find 
worse  quarters. 

In  tlie  warerooms  of  a  friend  I  met  some  fine 
specimens  of  the  regular  Spanish  contrabandista, 
stout  men  with  herculean  frames  and  noble  coun- 
tenances, dressed  in  sombreros,  embroidered  jackets 
of  superior  cloth,  and  leathern  gaiters  highly  orna- 
mented and  open  down  the  calf  of  the  leg.  They 
had  pleasant  faces,  and  bear  a  good  reputation  for 
honour  in  their  transactions  with  the  merchants. 
It  is  singular  to  hear  the  mixture  of  Spanish  and 
English  spoken  by  the  Hock  Scorpions,  and  even 
by  the  British  residents.  They  often  begin  a 
sentence  in  one  language  and  finish  it  in  another 
without  drawing  breath.  A  stranger  might  sup- 
pose the  people  afflicted  with  absence  of  mind. 

At  the  table  d'hote  of  the  Clubhouse,  we  one  day 
had  an  instance  of  French  "  politeness,"  which  I 
thought  very  characteristic  of  that  nation,  "  in  whose 
frippery,"  to  use  an  expression  of  Edmund  Burke's, 
'^  WE  are  expected  to  dress  our  behaviour."  In 
order  to  visit  the  excavations,  it  is  necessary  to  get 


b\ 


118 


THE  TAGL:?.   AND   THE   TIBER. 


an  order  from  the  governor.  Four  Frenchmen, 
who  most  probably  had  not  applied  for  it  in  a 
proper  manner,  were  complaining  bitterly  of  hav- 
ing been  refused  it  on  the  preceding  day.  They 
must  have  been  under  an  erroneous  impression 
regarding  this  permission,  but  what  shall  we  say 
of  those  who,  the  majority  of  the  company  being 
Englishmen,  and  in  the  presence  of  English  ladies, 
talked  in  no  measured  terms  of  abuse  regarding 
England,  and  everything  connected  with  it,  lean- 
ing at  the  same  time  their  elbows  on  the  table  and 
staring  every  one  out  of  countenance  ?  Now,  these 
persons  were  no  boors  ;  they  were  neither  shop- 
keepers nor  farmers — but  men  moving  in  high 
society,  and  one  of  them  a  distinguished  individual. 
Yet  their  conduct  strongly  reminded  me  of  Dr. 
Johnson's  remark,  "  The  French  are  an  ill-bred, 
gross  people.  What  I  gained  by  being  in 
France  was  to  be  better  satisfied  \\ath  my  own 
land." 

It  has  been  the  fashion  lately  to  maintain  that 
we  ought  to  give  up  Gibraltar  to  the  country  to 
which,  by  natural  situation,  it  belongs,  it  being  a 
useless  burden  to  Great  Britain,  while  our  possess- 


GIBRALTAK. 


119 


ing  it  serves  but  to  exasperate  the  government  of 
Spain. 

This  famous  fortress  of  yours,  say  the  men  who 
take  this  view  of  the  question,  does  not  command 
the  straits ;  its  batteries  are  placed  so  as  to  insult 
a  friendly  power ;  it  affords  an  asylum  for  contra- 
bandistas,  and  under  protection  of  its  guns  the 
smuggling  craft  take  refuge  from  the  Spanish 
guarda  costas ;  besides,  the  maintenance  of  its 
numerous  garrison,  storehouses,  barracks,  and  in- 
struments of  war,  annually  costs  Great  Britain  a 
very  heavy  sum,  without  procuring  for  her  any 
commercial  advantages.  If  w^e  are  to  view  the 
matter  only  in  this  light,  as  a  debtor  and  creditor 
account,  the  foregoing  arguments  may  appear  un- 
answerable ;  but  I  think  that  few  men  of  patriotic 
feelings,  and  who  understand  the  position  which 
our  country  occupies  amongst  the  nations,  will 
admit  that  the  question  ought  to  be  considered 
only  as  one  of  pounds,  shillings  and  pence. 

Gibraltar  stands  associated  with  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  achievements  in  English  history.  It  is  a 
monument  seen  by  every  mariner  who  passes 
through  the  straits,  to  warn  him  of  the  respect  due 


120 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


GIBRALTAR. 


121 


to  that  nation,  whose  fleets  have  always  been  tri- 
umphant on  the  ocean ;  a  signal  tower  from  which 
a  watch  can  always  be  kept  on  civil,  military,  and 
ecclesiastical  despotism  by  that  country  which  has 
ever  been  the  home  of  the  oppressed  ;  a  beacon  on 
whose  summit  people  lying  in  darkness  and  igno- 
rance may   see  unfurled  the    banners  of  rational 
liberty,    religious  toleration,  and    an    unrestricted 
commerce.     While  advocating  extensive  financial 
reforms  in  many  departments  of  government,   I 
would  not  consent,  for  the  sake  of  a  few  thousand 
pounds,  to  part  with  those   dependencies,  which, 
though  not  perhaps  remunerating  to  us  in  a  com- 
mercial point  of  view,  cannot  fail  widely  to  diffuse 
the  principles  which  have  rendered  England  the 
admiration  of  mankind.      Money    surely    is   well 
spent,  if  the  political  sentiments,  the  pure  religion, 
the  love  of  order  and  at  the  same  time  of  freedom, 
the  mercantile  ardour,  energ}',  and  integrity,  the 
generous   philanthropy  of  this    happy  island,    be 
diffused  from  many  isolated  positions  throughout 

the  globe. 

Economv,  no  doubt,  must  not  be  overlooked; 
but  it  may  be  carried  to  an  undue  extreme,  and 


- 


produce  evils  of  a  far  more  serious  nature  than 
those  which  its  advocates  so  much  dread.  If  Great 
Britain  owes  something  to  herself,  she  owes  also 
something  to  the  world ;  if  bound  to  relieve  a 
heavily  taxed  people,  she  is  bound  likewise  to 
maintain  a  rank  which  God  has  given  her  for  wise 
and  gracious  ends.  The  refuge  of  the  oppressed, 
the  asylum  of  liberty,  the  exponent  of  the  true 
principles  of  commerce,  the  hive  of  industry,  the 
abode  of  order — may  our  country  not  resign  but 
extend  lier  settlements  throughout  the  earth,  tha 
men  of  every  tribe  may  bless  her,  and  that  wherever 
tyranny,  slavery,  and  ignorance  prevail,  she  may 
shield  the  victims  and  overawe  the  oppressors ! 

Let  it  not,  still  further,  be  forgotten,  that  the 
five  thousand  men  who  garrison  Gibraltar  must 
be  supported  soinewhere ;  that  through  it  English 
merchants  carry  on  a  profitable  commerce  both 
with  Spain  and  Morocco ;  and  that  as  to  the 
charge  of  its  being  a  nest  of  smugglers,  a  contra- 
band trade  w^ill  always  exist  on  the  coast  of  a 
country  which  attempts  to  protect  native  manu- 
factures, or  raise  a  revenue  by  means  of  exorbitant 
duties.    The  abandonment  of  Gibraltar  by  England 

VOL.  L  o 


122 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBEK. 


certainly  would  not  put  an  end  to  the  trade  of 
these  contrabandistas,  who  have  been  raised  into 
consequence,  not  by  the  guns  of  our  batteries,  but 
by  the  absurd  laws  of  Spain. 

As  long  as  Manchester  goods  are  wanted  by  the 
Spaniards,  so  long  the  Spaniards  will  get  them ; 
if  the  Rock  change  hands,  then  every  desolate 
headland,  every  lonely  bay,  will  become  a  recei)- 
tacle  for  foreign  merchandise.  Instead  of  one, 
many  Gibraltars  will  spring  into  existence,  all  the 
vigilance  of  the  guarda  costas  notwithstanding; 
for  it  is  possible  to  smuggle  to  a  vast  extent 
without  warehouses,  depots,  or  friendly  cannon.* 
There  are  enough  quiet  coves  overlooked  by  the 
snowy  crests  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  or  washed  by 
the  billows  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  where,  in  the 
still  hours  of  night,  the  little  vessel  might  be  un- 
loaded, and  its  goods  safely  transferred  to  dens 
and  caves  in  the  mountains,  the  scene  of  their 
disembarkation  returning  in  the  morning  to  its 
wonted  repose. 

As  to  the  supposed  insult  which  we  habitually 

*  "  In  reality,"  says  the  Hon.  Mr.  Murray,   **  the  whole  pea- 
santry of  Andalucia  are  interested  in  the  contraband  trade." 


I 

» 


GIBRALTAR. 


123 


offer  to  Spain  by  holding  Gibraltar,  has  that 
country  forgotten  who  saved  her  national  indepen- 
dence, who  expended  blood  and  treasure  to  drive 
her  enemies  over  the  Pyrenees  whence  they 
came  ?  We  have  fortified  the  rock  of  Calpe,  not 
to  defy  tiie  Spaniards, — that  would  be  beneath 
the  nation  whose  armies  rescued  them  from  slavery, 
— but  to  perj)etuate  their  independence ;  not 
because  we  wish  to  take  advantage  of  a  neighbour's 
weakness,  but  because  we  have  no  confidence  that 
a  people  who  submitted  to  Joseph  Buonaparte 
would  be  able  to  maintain  Gibraltar  against  a 
foreign  foe.  The  words  "  Salamanca,"  "  Tala- 
vera,"  "  Barossa,"  ''  Yittoria,"  "  Badajos,"  ''  Pam- 
peluna,"  and  '^  Ciudad  Kodrigo,"  must  be  blotted 
out  of  the  map  of  Spain,  before  her  people  can 
with  decency  accuse  England  of  being  ungenerous 
to  the  feeble.  Never  should  a  Spaniard  forget 
that  he  yet  lives  in  the  nineteenth  century,  a 
century  which  saw  Murat  issuing  his  commands 
from  the  Escurial,  Massena  within  thirty  miles  of 
Lisbon,  and  Britons  laying  down  their  lives  on 
many  bloody  fields — 

"  From  RoncesvsJlea  to  the  blue  sea-wave.^, 
Where  Calpe  looks  on  Afric." 

g2 


CHAPTER  VI. 

QUARANTliVE    LAWS — SPANISH   STEAMERS — ALGEZIRAS— THE    "  BAU- 
Cixo" — OFFICIAL  INDOLENCE — ARRIVAL  AT  MALAGA — SITUATION 

OF    THE    TOWN — THE    MANUFACTORIES OBSERVATIONS    ON   THE 

COMMERCIAL  POUCY  OF  SPAIN  —  EFFECTS  OF  THE  TARIFF  — 
CONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT  —  WANT  OF  PRINCIPLE  AMONG 
THE  POLITICIANS  AT  MADRID— FEDERALISM— PROSPECTS  OF  THE 
COUNTRY — RAISIN  TRADE  OF  MAL.VGA — ROAD  TO  GRANaDA — 
JOURNEY  IN  "CALESAS" — ASCENT  OF  THE  SIERRA  —  DREARY 
NATURE  OF  THE  SCENERY — ROBBERS  ON  THIS  HIGHWAY — LOJA — 
HISTORICAL  REMINISCENCES  CONNECTED  W^TH  THE  ROUTE  — 
PAR\DOR  DE  LOS  ANGELES— THE  MOUNTAINS  OF  THE  PROVINCE. 

The  KSpanish  steamers  between  Marseilles  and 
('adiz,  touching  at  the  intermediate  ports,  call  off 
Algeziras;  the  French  vessels  sail  from  the  Rock 
itself.  At  the  time  of  our  visit,  however,  the  latter 
had  been  placed  in  quarantine  by  the  authorities 
of  Malaga,  whither  we  were  bound.  Any  one 
desirous  of  going  to  that  town,  might  hire  a  mule 
and  ride  along  on  the  coast,  or  he  might  cross  the 


SPANISH   STEAMERS. 


125 


> 


bay  and  embark  in  one  of  tlie  regular  packets ; 
in  either  case,  he  suffered  no  detention;  but  let 
him  proceed  from  Gibraltar  by  sea  direct,  and  he 
must  be  transferred,  on  arrival,  to  a  miserable 
lazaretto.  Perhaps  the  "  Quarterly  Review,'*  the 
credulous  defender  of  quarantine  laws,  will  be  good 
enough  to  give  a  sufficient  reason  for  this  aiTange- 
ment  also. 

1  remember  once  stepping  into  the  office  of  the 
Austrian  Lloyd's  Company  at  Constantinople,  to 
ask  when  their  steamers  sailed  from  the  isthmus 
of  Corinth  for  Corfu.  The  manager  and  chief 
clerk,  being  of  different  opinions  on  this  difficult 
question,  referred  to  the  captain  of  one  of  the  ships 
who  at  the  moment  happened  to  walk  in.  He 
having  asserted  that  both  were  wrong,  search  was 
made  amongst  piles  of  papers  to  ascertain  the 
truth,  but  in  vain,  so  I  had  to  rest  satisfied  with 
the  polite  reply, — 

"  Really,  Sir,  I  cannot  tell  you ;  perhaps  1  may 
find  the  information  you  want  in  a  day  or  two." 

Visitors  to  Gibraltar  can  with  justice  complain 
of  the  same  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  people  there 
who  profess  to  be  agents  of  steamers.     Go  into  a 


126 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


m 


i 


bureau,  and  ask  when  their  next  vessel  sails  for 
Cadiz  or  Malaga. 

"  Quien  sabc?"  replies  the  interrogated  indi- 
vidual. 

"  Surely  you  can  tell  me  if  there  will  be  a  vessel 
this  week,"  you  continue. 

"  There  may  be,  and  there  may  not  be  one,'' 
answers  the  official. 

"  But  I  understood  that  the  vessels  had  fixed 
days  of  departure,"  you  further  remark. 

"  Perhaps  they  have,"  replies  the  complacent 
Spaniard. 

••  Then  tell  me,"  you  demand  in  despair,  "  when 
is  The  Cid  advertised  to  leave  Cadiz?" 

'*  The  directeur  at  Cadiz  can  tell  you  that,"  im- 
perturbably  remarks  the  functionary. 

Desirous  of  reaching  ^lalaga  without  delay,  I 
called  several  times  at  the  agencies  of  the  various 
companies,  but  neither  there,  at  the  hotel,  nor  in 
the  news-room,  could  any  one  tell  me  when  to 
expect  the  next  packet. 

"  It  might  be  a  week,  perhaps  a  fortnight ;  the 
vessels  are  very  irregular." 

This    being   the   sum   and    substance    of    the 


ALGEZIRAS. 


127 


information  to  be  procured,  I  was  revolving  in  my 
mind  whether  to  take  a  passage  in  an  American 
barque  about  to  sail,  and  submit  to  quarantine, 
or  to  engage  a  felucca,  notrv^ithstanding  an  easterly 
wind,  or  to  expose  the  ladies  to  swollen  rivers  and 
bad  roads  by  riding  overland  on  mules,  when  a 
friend  called  to  say,  that  he  observed  in  a  Cadiz 
newspaper  that  the  Barcino,  a  fine  new  Spanish 
steamer,  and  one  of  the  regular  packets,  was  to 
call  off  Algeziras  on  the  morrow.  Straightway  I 
sallied  to  the  office  of  these  vessels,  to  ask  the  truth 
of  this  statement.  "  It  might  be  true  or  it  might 
not,"  said  the  intelligent  agent.    ''  Quien  sabe?" 

Believing  firmly  in  the  advertisement,  notwith- 
standing the  callousness  of  those  who  ought  to 
have  known  best,  and  the  incredulity  of  others 
in  the  same  predicament  as  ourselves,  we  started 
next  day,  at  two  o'clock,  in  a  sailing  boat  for 
Algeziras,  passing  between  the  vessels  in  quaran- 
tine, with  the  dismal  yellow  flag  at  the  foremast- 
head,  and  enjoying,  as  we  tacked  across  the  bay, 
many  beautiful  vistas  of  the  Spanish  hills,  Ceuta 
in  Africa,  and  the  Mountain  of  the  Apes.  After 
a  custom-house  examination  by  officers  stationed 


»f 


12S 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


MALAGA. 


129 


» 


in  a  small  boat  off  the  town,  the  steamer  not  being 
in  sight,  we  took  a  walk  through  Algeziras, 
visiting  its  pretty  Alameda,  and  markets  well 
stocked  with  chestnuts,  pomegi*anates,  and  fish. 

The  neat  houses  are  nearly  all  white-washed, 
and  have  their  windows  painted  green.  Many 
beautiful  women  peeped  on  us  from  behind  the 
Venetians,  and  now  and  then  ventured  on  a  smile. 
In  every  street  we  met  soldiers ;  few  of  them, 
however,  martial  in  their  appearance. 

Returning  to  the  quay,  we  descried  the  Barcino 
steaming  rapidly  up  the  bay.  In  a  few  minutes 
she  had  anchored  and  landed  her  passengers. 
But  as  yet  neither  agent  nor  deputy  had  arrived 
at  the  office,  where  it  behoved  us  to  procure  tickets. 
An  hour  and  a  half  passed  away  before  this  func- 
tionary deigned  to  appear,  and,  when  he  did  come, 
it  was  to  chat  with  his  friends,  smoke  a  cigar, 
and  keep  us  in  waiting.  At  last  he  condescended 
to  transact  business,  and,  wonderful  to  relate, 
in  half  an  hour  he  sold  two  tickets,  and  received 
l^ayment  of  the  freight  on  three  boxes.  But 
*^  Cosa  Espana  f  there  was  no  use  in  gnmibling, 
at   either  this   old  fellow's  laziness,  or   a  charge 


of  four  reals  for  attaching  a  useless  signature 
to  our  passport.  Then  one  halfpenny  each  had  to 
be  paid  for  landing  at,  and  the  same  sum  for  start- 
ing from,  a  heap  of  stones,  called  a  pier,  nominally 
to  repair  it,  but  really  to  feed  hungiy  offi- 
cials. The  Barcino  waited  till  half-past  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening  for  two  passengers,  who  did 
not  think  proper  to  go  on  board  with  the  others  ;  but 
at  that  hour  we  weighed  anchor,  and  soon  were 
bounding  over  the  waves,  off  Europa  Point,  the 
lighthouse  on  that  headland  illuminating  our 
way. 

When  I  awoke  next  morning,  the  motion  had 
ceased.  I  got  on  deck,  and  found  that  we  were 
quietly  moored  in  the  harbour  of  Malaga,  or 
3Ialacca ;  so  called,  says  Washington  Irving,  be- 
cause there  the  wretched  Florinda,  daughter  ot" 
Count  Julian,  committed  suicide  by  throwing 
herself  from  a  tower.  Above  us,  crowning  a  preci- 
pitous hill,  were  the  walls  of  the  Gibralfaro, 
the  stronghold  of  the  Moors,  the  citadel  where 
Hamet  El  Zegri  hung  out  the  white  banner  of  the 
Moslem  santon,  as  a  signal  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  that  God  had  not  deserted  the  cause 

a  3 


130 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TlBEFv. 


II 


of  the  Prophet,  and  from  which,  shouthig  ''  Allah 
ackbarl"  sallied  a  devoted  band  of  fanatics,  to  fall 
beneath  the  swords  of  the  Christians. 

Further  down  the  eminence,  and  connected  with 
the  fort  by  two  walls,  rose  the  ruins  of  the 
Alcazaba,  a  still  older  stronghold  of  the  Africans, 
and  more  immediately  commanding  tlic  city. 
Looking  westward,  the  next  striking  object  was 
the  Cathedral,  an  immense  pile  of  no  great  beauty, 
also  on  a  height,  with  the  dingy  houses  of  the  town 
clustering  around  it.  Beyond  it  smoked  the  four 
chimneys  of  the  iron,  cotton,  and  linen  manu- 
factories, l)elonging  to  the  Messrs.  Heredia  and 
Messrs.  Larios,  the  merchant  princes  who  are 
making  fortunes  at  the  expense  of  the  nation. 
Their  cloth  is  monstrously  dear  in  comparison  with 
that  made  in  England ;  but  a  protective,  or 
rather,  a  prohibitory  tariff  gives  them  the  command 
(»f  the  trade,  and  government  in  every  respect 
meet  their  wishes.  These  firms  employ  in  Malaga 
and  at  their  works  in  the  country  upwards  of  two 
thousand  people. 

Both  here  and  in  Catalonia  immense  factories 
have  lately  l)een  erected,  which,  fostered  by  absurd 


MANUFACTORIES. 


131 


» 


legislative  enactments,  are  picking  the  pockets 
of  the  people  of  Spain.  A  paternal  government 
would  strive,  by  every  means  in  its  power,  to 
develop  tlie  agricultural  resources  of  that  coimtry 
by  making  roads,  railways  and  canals,  encouraging 
the  growth  of  trees,  and  seeking  to  enrich  the 
peasantry  by  permitting  them  to  buy  their  clothing 
in  the  cheapest  markets ;  whereas  at  present, 
a  regard  for  the  interests  of  a  few  manufiicturers 
enjoying  a  sort  of  hot-house  prosperity,  not  a 
disposition  to  benefit  the  people  at  large,  influences 
every  act  of  Cortes.  What  is  the  consequence  ? 
I  give  it  in  the  words  of  an  intelligent  American 
traveller.*  "  According  to  the  most  accurate 
accounts,  from  three-fourths  to  seven-eighths  of 
the  foreign  articles  consumed  in  Spain  pass 
through  the  hands  of  contrabandistas.  England 
and  France,  rivals  in  most  things,  str'aggle  more 
earnestly  for  no  mastery  than  for  that  in  cheat- 
ing the  Spanish  revenue.  Arcades  amlo  I  Bat 
this  is  not  the  worst.  The  very  Catalan  manu- 
facturers, who  clamour  most  loudly  for  the  per- 
petuation of  the  tarifi',  are  themselves  frequently, 

•  "Glimpses  of  Spain,"  by  S.  T.  Wallis.     London.  1850. 


132 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


COMMERCIAL   POLICY. 


133 


the  chief  smugglers.  I  was  assured  by  many 
Spaniards  familiar  with  the  facts,  that  a  very 
large  portion  of  the  goods  sold  from  the  factories 
of  Catalonia  into  the  other  provinces,  are  actually 
manufactured  and  marked  as  Catalonian  in  Eng- 
Lnnd,  smuggled  into  Barcelona,  and  there  disposed 
of  triumphantly,  as  the  genuine  thing,  by  the  very 
l)est  houses.  One  gentleman  told  me  that  in  one  of 
tlie  English  manufacturing  towns,  he  had  been 
t'hown  a  ware-room  of  orthodox  Catalan  goods, 
made  and  marked  in  the  most  Spanish  manner,  for 
the  Barcelonese  home  production,  by  order  of  one 
of  the  largest  concerns  there,  than  whose  members 
none  clamoured  more  loudly  for  protection.  A 
man  must  be  either  interested,  or  mad  nor'-nor'- 
west,  to  have  any  seiious  doubts  as  to  the 
propriety  of  upsetting  a  system  which  has  such 
consequences." 

It  is  really  melancholy  to  think  that  millions 
of  people  should  be  compelled  to  support  a  legion 
of  custom  officers,  guarda  costas,  and  gens-d'armes, 
for  the  pui*pose  of  rendering  efficient  a  policy, 
by  which  they  are  taxed  enormously  to  make 
colossal  fortunes   for  a  dozen   manufacturers.     It 


does  not  keep  out  foreign  goods,  for  every  shop- 
window,  even  in  Barcelona  and  Malaga,  is  filled 
with  them ;  it  does  not  add  to  the  real  prosperity 
of  the  country,  for  the  great  works  we  allude  to 
are  mere  exotics,  which  a  change  of  policy  must 
shortly  wither  up  by  the  roots ;  it  only  robs  the 
hardworking  peasant,  who  loves  a  comfortable  suit 
of  clothing,  to  encourage  the  bloated  functionary 
and  the  daring  contrabandista, — to  foster  an  un- 
natural production  and  an  unprincipled  evasion 
of  all  moral  laws. 

There  are  some  districts  of  Spain,  Catalonia 
especially,  which  will  become  manufacturing,  owing 
to  natural  causes.  So  far  well,  but  to  force  this 
branch  of  industry,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  great 
agricultural  interests  of  the  Peninsula,  appears  to 
me  a  policy  so  infatuated,  that  no  honest  statesman 
could  for  a  moment  defend  it,  no  Cortes  really 
representing  the  sentiments  of  the  people  hesitate 
one  day  before  decreeing  its  instant  reversal.  Alas! 
when  will  rulers  of  integrity  and  properly  elected 
senators  be  found  in  Spain? 

^Ir.  Ilallam  tells  us,*  '^  that  the  forms  of  a  Cas- 

*  "  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,"  p.  395. 


Jil 


134 


THE   TAGUS   AND   TUE   TIBER. 


SPANISH   POLITICS. 


135 


^n 


tilian  Cortes  were  analogous  to  those  of  an  English 
Parliament  in  the  fourteenth  century,"  and  that 
"  the  laws  of  Alphonso  X.  in  1258,  those  of  the 
same  prince  in  1274,  and  many  others  in  subsequent 
times,  are  declared  to  be  made  with  the  consent  of 
the  several  orders  of  the  kingdom."     One  might 
suppose  that,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  a 
nation  which  thus  early  manifested  the  germs  of 
constitutional  government  would  at  this  moment 
have  stood  high  among  the  free  coinitries  of  the 
globe,  an  example  of  the  harmonious  working  of 
institutions    gradually    developed    by   tlie    people 
themselves ;  but  what  do  we  find  in  the  nineteenth 
century?     A  vast  peninsula,   destitute  of  wealth, 
energy,  and    internal    mode    of   communication; 
without  proper  roads,  a  sufficient  supply  of  fuel, 
or    the    means    of    transporting    com    from    the 
various  provinces ;  while  one  miYitSiry  parvenu  after 
another  seizes  the  reins  of  government,  disfranchises 
electors,  threatens  justices,  and  thereby  secures  a 
Cortes  to  do  his  bidding. 

In  private  you  hear  it  broadly  stated  that  all  the 
leading  politicians,  no  matter  what  may  be  their 
creed,   are  equally  dishonest,  equally  devoted  to 


back-stair  intrigues,  and  their  o^\ti  private  hite- 
rests.  Ministry  succeeds  ministry  at  Madrid;  one 
legislative  body  after  another  serv^es  to  keep  up  the 
delusion  of  a  constitution ;  whilst  the  people  re- 
main very  much  in  the  state  in  which  Columbus 
left  them  when  he  sailed  from  Palos  to  discover 
America. 

Venality,  coniiption,  ambition,  and  bad  faith, 
make  no  secret  of  their  predominance  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  Escurial,  and  universal  Europe  pro- 
claims the  Spanish  government  a  mockery,  a  delu- 
sion, and  a  snare.  Burke  said  in  regard  to  the 
French,  ''  The  power  of  the  city  of  Paris  is  evi- 
dently one  great  spring  of  all  their  politics."^  It 
may,  in  like  manner,  be  obsei-ved  of  the  Spanish, 
that  intrigues  at  Madrid  at  present  sway  the  desti- 
nies of  the  nation.  This  crying  evil  must  be 
remedied.  Let  the  provinces  come  forward  and 
deprive  the  seat  of  government  of  the  power  to 
do  evil ;  let  them  modify  the  provisions  of  a  con- 
stitution \rhich  experience  has  proved  unsuitable 
to  the  people,  and  establish  a  system  which  will 
ensure  due  attention  being  paid  to  the  interests  of 

*  "  Reflections  on  the  French  Revolution." 


f 


i 


136 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


RAISIN   TRADE. 


137 


the  nation  at  large.  In  another  volume,*  1  have 
expressed  a  preference  for  the  federal  fonii  of  go- 
vernment in  countries  peculiarly  situated.  The 
cantons  of  Switzerland,  and  the  states  of  North 
America,  illustrate  the  happy  operation  of  this 
principle ;  the  German  Zollverein,  and  the  attempt 
to  form  a  Germanic  empire,  both  show  how  natu- 
rally the  human  mind  falls  back  upon  it  as  a  remedy 
for  existing  evils.  That  centralising  power  must 
inevitably  yield  to  local  authority  in  many  Euro- 
pean countries  seems  highly  probable,  and  perha])s 
the  various  provinces  of  the  Peninsula,  differing 
from  each  other  in  customs,  opinions,  interests,  and 
laws,  might  enjoy  greater  freedom  and  prosperity, 
if  constituting  a  federation,  than  as  a  consolidated 
monarchy. 

This  idea  I  would  express  with  all  deference, 
aware,  however,  that  there  are  Spaniards  of  talent 
and  foresight,  wdio  think  that  its  adoption  may  yet 
save  their  country.  Be  this  as  it  may,  one  thing 
is  certain,  that  a  sifting  time  approaches  on  the 
other  side  of  the   Pyrenees.    Disgusted  with   the 

•  "  Impressions  of  Central  and  Southern  Europe."  London. 
1850. 


events  of  the  last  two  years,  the  people  expect  a 
reformation,  and  perhaps,  when  the  politicians  of 
Europe  least  expect  it,  like  a  thunder-cloud  from 
the  Guadaramas,  it  will  burst  on  the  Escurial. 
Inert,  ignorant,  prejudiced,  the  Spaniards  may  be, 
but  they  are  men,  and  as  men  they  cannot  help 
feeling  that  their  interests  have  been  neglected, 
their  country  unimproved,  their  civilization  re- 
tarded, while  political  adventurers  and  military 
upstarts  have  made  unw^orthy  intrigues  the  step- 
ping-stones to  power. 

We  spent  an  hour  and  a  half  pacing  up  and 
down  the  deck  of  the  Barcino,  before   the   lazy 
officials  gave  us  pratique.    Very  shortly  aftenvards 
we  were  enjoying  our  breakfast  at  the  excellent 
Fonda  de  la  Alameda,  one  of  the  best  hotels  in  Spain 
:Malaga  contains  eighty  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
has  of  late,  owdng  to  the  factories,  been  increasing. 
It  exports  raisins  largely  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
I  w^as  surprised  to  learn  that  four-tenths  of  the 
whole  quantity  go  to  the  United  States,  and  only 
one-tenth  to  England.     The  packing  season  was 
nearly  over  at   the   time  of  our  visit,  but  I  saw 
several   warehouses   piled   with   boxes   ready   for 
shipment. 


r 

I 


138 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ROAD  TO  GRANADA. 


139 


ll 


Malaga  appeared  to  me  a  very  dirty,  and  by  no 
means  pretty  tOTVu.  The  inhabitants  said  that 
recent  rains  had  rendered  the  streets  filthier  than 
usual ;  but  be  that  as  it  may,  Lisbon  would  have 
seemed  a  garden  in  comparison.  The  Alameda,  a 
broad  but  formal  walk,  leads  from  the  harbour  to 
the  river  Guadalmedina,  whicli  is  in  summer  a 
stony  waste.  The  best  houses  front  this  pleasiu-e- 
ground,  and  there  you  may  see  on  an  evening 
groups  of  delicate-looking  children  and  consump- 
tive patients  from  England,  enjoying  the  balmy 
air. 

Although  dry  and  genial  in  winter,  the  climate 
of  ^lalaga  becomes  in  summer  excessively  wann, 
so  much  so  that  sugar-canes  grow  in  the  vicinity. 
Some,  indeed,  think  that  this  plant  found  its  way 
to  the  West  Indies  from  the  Orient,  by  the  Canary 
Islands  and  the  province  of  Granada.  The  best 
view  of  the  city  may  be  obtained  from  the  top  of 
the  tower  of  the  cathedral,  a  huge  pile,  uglier 
within  than  without,  and  possessing  no  object  of 
interest. 

At  seven  o'clock  at  night  the  Granada  diligence 
arrived  at  our  hotel,  a  vehicle  dra\\Ti  by  ten  mules, 
a  rider  guiding  the  leading  pair.     To  a  stranger 


this  conveyance  has  a  most  singular  appearance, 
recalling  to  his  mind  times  long  gone  by.  It  starts 
from  Malaga  every  two  days  ;  but  we  found  on  our 
arrival  that  all  the  seats  were  engaged  for  a  fort- 
night; so  we  resolved,  notwithstanding  the  pre- 
valence of  robberies,  to  make  the  journey  in 
"  calesas,"  the  rude  gigs,  without  springs,  so 
much  used  by  the  Spaniards,  stopping  the  first 
night  at  Loja,  pronounced  Locha,  distant  forty- 
two  miles. 

It  took  us  exactly  sixteen  hours  and  a  half 
to  reach  that  place,  so  that  the  reader  may  form 
some  idea  of  the  dreadful  state  of  the  road. 
For  several  leagues, — indeed,  about  half  way,— it 
is  quite  frightful,  unfit  for  wheeled  vehicles  of  any 
sort,  huge  boulders  of  rock  and  deep  ruts  seeming 
every  now  and  then  to  obstruct  further  progress. 
In  many  places  it  resembles  the  track  between 
Lisbon  and  Torres  Vedras.  How  the  diligence 
manages  to  get  on,  even  with  ten  horses,  passes  my 
comprehension.  No  English-built  carriage  could 
proceed  half  a  mile  without  being  knocked  to 
pieces.  And  yet  this  is  the  leading  highway 
between  the  capital  and  a  flourishing  seaport ! 


1 


t 


I 

ll  t 


I' I 
1 


^ 


140 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Disappointed  with  the  situation  and  appearance 
of  Malaga,  at  three  o'clock  one  fine  "vvarm  morning 
we  started  from  the  Fonda  de  la  Alameda  in  two 
calesas,  a  baggage-horse  following  with  our  port- 
manteaus. Slowly  we  pursued  our  way  along  the 
silent  streets  until  we  reached  the  famous  gate  of 
Granada,  where  sixteen  hundred  Christian  captives, 
many  of  whom  had  for  years  been  slaves  to  the 
jMoors,  met  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  after  Hamet  el 
Zegi-i  surrendered  the  city.  "  When  they  beheld 
themselves,"  says  Washington  Irving,*  "  restored 
to  liberty  and  surrounded  by  their  countrymen, 
some  stared  wildly  about,  as  if  in  a  dream,  others 
gave  way  to  frantic  transports,  but  most  of  them 
wept  for  joy.  All  present  were  moved  to  tears  by 
so  toucliing  a  spectacle.  When  they  came  in  pre- 
sence of  the  king  and  queen,  they  threw  themselves 
on  their  knees,  and  would  have  kissed  their  feet  as 
their  saviours  and  deliverers  ;  but  the  sovereigns 
prevented  such  humiliation,  and  graciously  ex- 
tended to  them  their  hands.  They  then  prostrated 
themselves  before  the  altar  in  a  tent  erected  not 
far  from  the  city,  and  all  present  joined  them  in 

*  "  Chronicle  of  the  Conquest  of  Granatin,"  p.  235. 


DREARY   SCENERY. 


141 


giving   thanks   to  God    for   their   liberation  from 
this  cruel  bondage." 

The  Spaniards  may  well  feel  grateful  to  the 
Americans  for  the  writings  of  such  men  as  Pres- 
cott  and  Irving.  The  first,  in  my  opinion,  holds 
the  highest  place  among  historians ;  while  the 
second  has  immortalised  the  Moslem  and  Christian 
heroes  who  fought  so  stoutly  for  the  possession  of 

Spain. 

Until  eight  o'clock,  or  for  five  weary  hours,  we 
continued  steadily  to  ascend,  winding  up  the  sterile 
hills  which  approach  so  close  to  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  When  we  left  the  city  the  air  was  hot,  but 
when  we  had  advanced  for  an  hour  or  two,  it 
became  chill.  Every  turn  of  the  road  revealed  to 
us  finer  and  finer  views  of  Malaga,  the  vega 
behind  it,  the  coast,  and  the  mgged  sierras  below 
and  around  us. 

The  sides  of  the  hills,  quite  destitute  of  trees, 
and  cut  up  into  a  thousand  ridges  by  water- 
courses, dry  in  summer,  presented  a  very   pecu- 

iar  appearance;    and  inland,  a  range   of  higher 
mountains,  rocky  and  sterile,  bounded  the  prospect. 

We  saw  many  lonely   spots,  answering  well  to 


142 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


SPANISH   VENTA. 


143 


Mrs.  Hemans's    description   in   the   Forest   Sanc- 
tuary : — 

"  Wildest  of  all  the  savage  glens  that  lie 
In  far  sierras,  hiding  their  deep  springs, 
And  traversed  but  by  storms  or  sounding  eagle's  wings." 

We  met  crowds  of  mules  and  donkeys,  bearing 
in  their  panniers  for  shipment  at,  or  use  in  ^lalaga, 
produce  of  various  kinds,— grapes,  raisins,  and 
beans.  On  the  top  of  the  elevations  the  vines 
flourish,  but  the  vintage  was  over  when  we  passed. 
When  we  were  within  an  hour's  drive  of  the  sum- 
mit, one  of  the  calesa  horses  gave  in,  refusing  to 
go  further ;  so  a  rope  had  to  be  made  fast  to  the 
other  calesa,  and  the  poor  little  animal  attached  to 
it  stimulated  to  do  the  whole  work— no  easy  task 
on  such  a  road. 

The  labourers  employed  in  repairing  the  high- 
way were  all  armed  with  muskets,  as  no  part  of 
Spain  has  suffered  so  much  from  robbers.  About 
a  year  previously  the  diligence  had  been  stopped 
by  banditti  on  these  hills,  fired  at,  and  ransacked. 
The  soldiers  afterwards  caught  the  authors  of  this 
outrage,  and  shot  them  summarily  without  trial. 
The  garments  taken  from  the  passengers  betrayed 
them. 


\ 


At  a  little  venta  on  the  top  of  the  hills,  not  far 
from  the  scene  of  this  attack,  we  rested  for  a  short 
time,  to  eat  our  sandwiches  and  drink  our  wine. 
This  was  a  true  specimen  of  a  Spanish  wayside 
tavern,  where  mules,  hens,  dogs,  and  human 
beings,  mingle  on  the  mud  floor  with  swarms  of 
vermin.  A  muddy  but  somewhat  better  road  led 
us  down  into  a  valley  and  the  little  town  of  Col- 
menar.  On  the  hill-slopes  we  observed  several 
snug  fann-houses,  in  vineyards  and  oliveyards, 
Avith  curious  avenues  of  cypress- trees.  On  our 
right  and  before  us  rose  tremendous  rocks,  many 
thousand  feet  high,  and  quite  destitute  of  vegeta- 
tion. Scotland  can  show  few  ranges  so  desolate, 
although  Scotland's  poet  has,  in  words  that  will 
live  for  ever,  described  a  similar  scene,* — 

"  But  here,  above,  around,  below, 
On  mountain  or  in  glen, 
Nor  tree,  nor  shrub,  nor  plant,  nor  flower, 
Nor  aught  of  vegetative  power. 

The  weary  eye  may  ken ; 
For  all  is  rocks  at  random  thrown. 
Black  waves,  bare  crags,  and  banks  of  stone." 

The  worst  road  I  ever  saw  or  heard  of, — a  mere 

•  "  Lord  of  the  Isles,"  canto  iii. 


I 


144 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


track,  in  fact,  among  stony  hills, — conducts  from 
Colmcnar  to  the  venta  of  Alfarnate,  a  place  some- 
what like  Tyndrum  in  Argyleshire,  where,  to  save 
a  dollar,  which  the  greedy  inmates  demanded  for  a 
room,  we  ate  a  cold  fowl  and  a  dishful  of  boiled 
eggs  among  the  rocks,  leaving  the  remains  of  our 
feast  to  a  mighty  legion  of  black  ants.  But  we 
had  little  time  to  delay,  for  our  rate  of  progress  in 
this  vicinity  was  only  two  miles  and  a  half  an 
hour. 

Having  for  some  time  traversed  a  dreary  glen 
among  the  mountains,  flanked  by  precipitous  rocks, 
we  descended  into  a  ravine  covered  with  olive- 
trees,  and  then  crossed  a  stony  waste,  where  Indian 
com  grows  amongst  the  huge  boulders  on  the  side 
of  every  eminence.  The  moon  rose  before  we 
reached  the  valley  of  the  Xenil,  enabling  us  to 
observe  that  the  scenery  had  improved  very  con- 
siderably. 

It  was  nearly  eight  o'clock  when  our  rude 
vehicles  entered  Loja,  a  town  of  fourteen  thousand 
inhabitants,  where  large  shops,  well  lighted  and 
filled  with  customers,  rows  of  new  houses,  and  a 
bustling  population,  gave  unmistakeable  evidence 


* .« 

4 


LOJA. 


145 


of  prosperity.  The  place  derives  its  name  from  its 
situation,  as  "  Guardian"  to  the  Vega  of  Granada. 
It  is  famous  in  the  Moorish  wars,  having  in  1488 
sustained  a  long  siege  from  the  Christians,  and 
having  been  taken  chiefly  by  the  steady  valour  of 
Lord  Kivers,  who  with  his  English  auxiliaries 
fought  in  the  army  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

No  student  of  Spanish  history  can  pass  over  the 
rugged  sierras  between  Loja  and  the  coast  wltliout 
thinking  of  the  disasters  which  happened  to  that 
noble  band  of  soldiers  who,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz,  issued  from  the  gates  of 
Antequera  to  recover  Malaga  from  the  Africans ; 
but  on  reacliing  the  Axarquia,  commanding  a  dis- 
tant view  of  the  sea,  experienced  the  first  of  those 
disasters  wliich  ended  in  the  total  dispersion  of  the 
band,  and  the  death  of  their  foremost  champions. 
From  the  top  of  the  cliffs  the  Moors  hurled  down 
on  the  mailed  cavalry  great  masses  of  rock,  while 
ignorant  guides  led  them  deeper  and  deeper  into 
the  recesses  of  a  country  where  a  few  courageous 
mountaineers  could  defy  the  disciplined  troops  of 
Europe.     Night  overtook  them  in  a  wild  glen,  sur- 
rounded with  beetling  crags ;  and  as  the  shadows 

VOL.  L  '^ 


146 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBEn. 


MOUNTAINS  OF  GEANADA. 


147 


closed   around,   cries  of  "  El  Zagah   FA   Zagal," 
resounded  from  rock  to  rock,  beacon  fires  Wazed  on 
every  liiH,  and  on  rushed  to  the  conflict  a  host  of 
revengeful    Moslems.       Daylight    witnessed    the 
Marquis  of  Cadiz  flying  over  the  mountains,  his 
brothers   transfixed  by   a  hundred   darts,   and  a 
crowd  of  Christian  knights,  once  the   flower   of 
Castilian  chivalrj-,  now  cold  as  the  stonn-beaten 
sierras  covering  "  la  cuesta  de  hmatanza,"—"  the 
hill  of  the  massacre." 

The  stranger  who  must  needs  stop  at  the  Parador 
de  los  Angeles  in  Loja,  will  find  it  necessarj-  to  eat 
bad  provisions,  sleep  in  beds  literally  swarming, 
and  pay  exorbitant  charges.  I  shall  never  forget 
my  sensations  on  awakening,  after  a  night's  broken 
rest,  and  finding  that  my  assailants  were  like  the 
sands  on  the  sea-shore  for  multitude. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  market-place  of  the 
town  presented  to  a  stranger  a  curious  appearance. 
I  looked  down  from  a  height  on  a  moving  mass 
of  men  in  long  brown  cloaks  and  sombreros,  buying 
and  selling  all  kinds  of  wares  and  country  produce ; 
while  beyond,  the  Xenil,  dark  and  muddy,  flowed 
among  gardens  and  oliveyards  to  meet  the  Guadal- 


quiver.     How  green  its  banks  seemed  to  me  after 
the  treeless  hills  on  the  road  from  Malaga ! 

The  kingdom  of  Granada  is  very  mountainous. 
Between  you  and  the  deep-blue  sky  rise  rugged 
chains  of  rocks  without  shrub  or  plant,  enclosing 
sometimes,  however,   a  fertile  spot,  where  the  fig 
and   olive    shelter   the   habitation   of    a    peasant. 
Entering  next  a  gloomy  pass,  you   see    an   old 
Moorish   watchtower   frowning   above   you,    or   a 
village  perched  among  the  cliffs  like  the  nest  of  an 
eagle ;  then  you  pass  along  the  edge  of  an  awful 
precipice,  by  a  path  so  narrow  that  you  fear  to 
look  down  into  the   abyss   beneath.     Sometimes 
your  mule  picks  his  way  down  the  dry  bed  of  a 
torrent ;  and  again  he  scrambles  up  broken  steps  in 
the  face  of  terrific  rocks,  which  seem  to  menace  the 
traveller,  who  ventures  among  the  haunts  of  ban- 
ditti and  the  lurking-places  of  the  wolf. 


h2 


CHAPTER  VII, 


LEAVE    LOJA-THE    VEGA    OF    GRANADA-DISTANT     VIEW    OF    THE 
CITY— SANTA    F^— INCIDENT    OF   THE    SIEGE— ARRIVAL    AT    THE 
FONDA   DE    LA    AMISTAD-A  SPANISH    POST-OFFICE-FIRST    VISIT 
TO    THE  ALHAMBRA-OATE  OF  THE    POMEGRANATES-THE  TORRE 
DE  LA  VELA-SPLENDOUR   OF    THE   PROSPECT-THE  APPEARANCE 
OF    THE  VEGA-SURRENDER    OF    THE    CITY— THE   ALBERCA— THE 
COURT    OF    THE    LIONS-HALL   OF     THE    ABENCERRAGES— UNDA- 
BVXa'8     garden  — HALL    OF    THE    AMBASSADORS-FAIRY    CHA- 
rIcTER  of  the  PALACE-THE  GENERALIFE-NOTES  on  GRANADA 
-FUNCTION    OF    THE    XENIL    AND    THE    DARRO-THE    CARTUJA 
CONVENT-THE    ALBAYCIN  -  GIPSY    CAVERNS    IN    THE    ROCKS- 
THE    VERMILION    TOWERS-PRESENT    STATE    OF    THE    ALHAMBRA 
^INSCRIPTIONS    ON    THE    WALLS -LEGEND    OF    THE     ABENCER- 
RVGES— THE    HALL    OF    JUSTICE-WASHINGTON     IRVING— VIEW 
FROM  THE  TOWER   OF   COMARES— EMPLOYMENTS    OP   THE   PEOPLE 
—HOPES  OF  THE  MOORS— PROBABLE  FATE  OF   THE    ALHAMBRA— 
THE    RELIGION    OF    MAHOMET,  A  METEOR  WHICH   MUST  SOON  PASS 
AWAY. 

After  a  poor  breakfast  at  Loja,  we  started  for 
Granada,  on  a  road  which,  excepting  where  it 
fords  the  streams,  may  be  set  down  as  the  best  ni 
Spain.  We  had  not  advanced  a  mile,  when  a 
covered  cart,  drawn  by  three  stout  mules,  passed  us 


THE  VEGA  OF  GRANADA. 


149 


at    full    gallop.     This  vehicle,    without   sprmgs, 
.eats,  or  leathern  reins,  was  Her  Majesty  s  mad. 
On  the  wayside  we  observed  several  large  olive 
farms  and  bean-fields.     The  peasants  were  busy 
ploughing  and  irrigating  the  land,  which  is  better 
cultivated  than  any  we  had  hitherto  seen  m  the 
Peninsula.      The  water-courses  reminded   me  ot 
Italy,  and  the  milky  streams  of  the  Tyrol  and 

Lombardy. 

Leaving  the  Xenil,  we  erossed a  bare  taUe-knc, 
destitute  of  anything  hut  a  few  flocks  of  black 
«heep;  and,  turning  a  comer,  suddenly  came  m 
,i,ht  of  the  promised  land,  the  classical  Vega  ot 
Granada,  a  well-watered  garden,  like  that  wh,ch, 
by   the  hanks  of  Hiddekel  and  Euphrates,  was 
formed  by  the  bountiful  Creator  of  man.    Far  m 
the  distance,  the  white  buildings  of  the  cUy  looked 
down  on  a  fruitful  plain,  while  beyond  them  the 
eighty  summits  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  seemed  to 
end  in  a  heaven  of  clouds.     At  the  western  ex- 
tremity of  the  plain,  under  a  lofty  rock,  we  ob- 
served the  Duke  of  Wellington's  estate,  Soto  Ai 
Roma.     Stopping  at  a  large  vineyard,  we  bo.ght 
for  a  halfpenny  as  many  clusters  of  brown,  red, 


150 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


purple,  and  green  grapes,  as  would  have  cost  fifteen 
or  sixteen  shillings  in  England. 

Soon  aftenvards  we  passed  through  the  walled 
village  of  Santa  Fe,  built  by  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella when  besieging  Granada,  to  convince  the 
Moors  that  surrender  was  inevitable.  Nine  of  the 
cities  of  Spain  contributed  to  this  work,  "  which 
remains,"  says  Antonio  Agapida,  "  to  this  day,  a 
monument  of  the  piety  of  the  Catholic  sovereigns." 
A  conflagration  having  destroyed  the  Christian 
camp,  the  hopes  of  the  Moslems  rose  ;  but  the 
dauntless  queen,  more  effectually  to  protect  her 
troops  from  such  another  disaster  and  from  the 
winter  rains,  gave  orders  to  erect  a  city,  which, 
rising  phantom-like  from  the  plain,  struck  terror 
into  the  heart  of  Boabdil  el  Chico.  There,  too, 
Columbus,  on  his  recall,  formed  with  Isabella  that 
treaty  which  resulted  in  adding  a  new  world  to  the 
territories  of  Castile. 

'•  I  saw  this  morning  near  the  trail,"  writes  a 
traveller  journeying  over  the  Kocky  Mountains, 
"  a  solitary  rose,  the  first  I  have  seen  blooming  in 
the  prairies,  the  delightful  fragrance  of  which  in- 
stantly excited  emotions  of  sadness  and  tenderness. 


SANTA   FE. 


151 


•^1 


by  reviving  in  the  memory  a  thousand  asso«s 
connected  with  home,  and  friends,  and  cmUzatxcn, 
all  of  which  we  had  left  behind  for  a  weary  journey 
through  a  desolate  wilderness.    It  is  not  poss.Ue  to 
acscrL  the  effect  upon  the  sensibilities  produced 
,y  that  modest  and  lonely  flower.     The  per  ume 
/.haled  from  its  petals,  and  enriching  '  the  desert 
air,-  addressed  a  language  to  the  heart  more  tlml- 
li„g  than  the  plaintive  and   impassioned  accents 
from  the  inspired  voice  of  music  or  poesy. 

Feelings  somewhat  kindred  to  those  thus  beauti- 
fully described  filled  my  mind,  when  I  found  my- 
self really  in  Santa  F^,  in  the  centre  of  that  \  ega 
.here  so  many  acts  have  been  l-Jonned^  ^^e  y 
exampled  in  the  history  of  chivalry.     There  the 
Moorish  cavalier  Tarf  e,  overleaping  the  bamers  of 
ihe  camp,  hurled  his  lance  so  near  the  royal  pa  v. - 
tltbat  quivered  in  the  earth  within  heanng  o 

tl.  sovereigns;  there  Fernando  Pere.  del  Puga 

replied  by   affixing  to  the  principal  mosque  o 
Znada  I  tablet,  bearing  the  words" Ave Mar.^ 

there  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  in  single  combat,  slew 
the  bravest  of  the  Mussulman  warriors  ;  there  was 
heard  the  mighty  shout  of  "  Santiago,  Santiago, 


A  SPANISH   POST-OFFICE. 


153 


152 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


when  the  Christian  court  and  army  saw  the  silver 
cross,  the  monument  of  victory,  glittering  in  the 
sunbeams,  on  the  great  tower  of  the  Alhambra* 
With  these  and  other  exploits  my  mind  was 
occupied  when  treading  this  classic  groimd.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  age  of  chivalry  had  revived  ;  as 
if  the  Generalife  might  once  more  display  the 
banner  of  the  Crescent,  and  the  vineyards  of  the 
plain  again  afford  camping  ground  for  the  plumed 
wamors,  the  dauntless  heroes  who  have  left  their 
footsteps  so  deeply  imprinted  "  in  the  sands  of 
time. 

Nothing  can  be  more  majestic  than  the  appear- 
ance of  Granada  from  the  Vega,  near  Santa  F^. 
Perched  on  the  slope  of  the  hills,  flanked  by  the 
deep  ravine  of  the  Darro,  and  the  valley  of  the 
Xenil,  and  crowned  by  the  red  w^alls  of  the  Al- 
hambra,  its  houses  seemed  the  vestibule  of  a 
glorious  temple,  with  the  plain  as  its  court,  the 
mountains  of  the  Nevada  as  its  minarets,  and 
Mulahacen's  awful  summit  as  the  heaven-aspiring 
dome- which  guides  the  mariner  far  away  on  the 
blue  Mediterranean. 

After  the  customhouse  officers  had  searched  our 


I 


luggage   for  provisions,   an   absurd   practice  still 
persevered  in  at  the  gates  of  cities  in  countries  far 
more  advanced  than  Spain,  we  drove  along  the 
narrow  streets  amidst  the  jeers  of  straggling  sol- 
diers and  students,  who  appeared  not  to  have  seen 
a  stranger  for  many  a  day,  to  Vasquez's  Fonda  de 
la  Amistad,  a  small  but  comfortable  new  hotel, 
which  deserves  the  support  of  travellers.     Senor 
Vasquez,  a  warm  admirer  of  English  manners,  did 
everything  in  his  power  to  render  our  residence  in 
Granada  agreeable,  besides  giving  us  much  infor- 
mation regarding  the  lamentable  state  of  his  own 

native  land. 

We  had  scarcely  reached  our  rooms,  when  the 
rain  descended  in  torrents  from  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
and  the  water-spouts  from  the  house-tops  poured 
floods  upon  the  narrow  lanes.  Fortunately  the 
weather,  during  the  remainder  of  our  stay,  proved 

delightful. 

After  breakfast  next  morning  I  went  to  the  Post- 
office  in  quest  of  intelligence  from  home.  In  Spain 
a  list  of  all  those  to  whom  letters  are  addressed 
appears  at  the  entrance  to  the  bureau.  Feeling 
certain  that  there  were  some  for  me,  although  none 

h3 


i 


154 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


had  been  thus  advertised,  I  applied  to  the  clerk, 
who  referred  me  to  the  names  posted  up  at  the 
door,  demanding  to  know  the  number  of  the  one  1 
wanted.     By  chance  I  asked  him  to  show  me  a 
letter  addressed   "  Sefior  Hebenstedt,"   when   lo ! 
he   handed    me   one   inscribed    most    legibly   to 
myself.     So  much  for  the  literature  of  the  Spanish 
Post-office!     These  government  functionaries  ob- 
tain  their   situations   entirely   by   interest,    how- 
ever  personally  unfit  to   perform   the    duties  de- 
volving on  them.     In  many  ways   they  plunder 
the   public   and   disgi-ace   their  country.     I  have 
heard  it  confidently  stated,  that  there  are  clerks- 
in  the  public   offices   who  can  neither   read   nor 
write. 

Spain  indeed  urgently  requires  some  stern  re- 
former, who,  fearless  of  party  hate,  might  assume 
the  reins  of  power,  sweep  the  Augean  stable,  full 
as  it  is  of  the  impmities  of  an  unprincipled  patron- 
age, and  bring  back  that  true  freedom  to  the  land 
which  Mrs.  Hemans  says  has  been  driven  from  it 
by  her  degenerate  sons. 

Ascending  the  steep  and  narrow  street  in  which 
our  hotel  was  situated,  until  we  reached  a  large 


V 


\ 


THE   ALUAMBRA. 


155 


square,  we  turned  to  the  right  up  the  Calle  de 
los    Gomeles,   and    soon    found    ourselves    at    a 
massive  portal,  built  by  Charles  V,  and  forming 
the  entrance  to  the  Alhambra-the  Gate  ot  the 
Pomegranates,  so  famous  in  history  and  song.     A 
broad  walk,  overshadowed  by  lofty  elms  imported 
from  England  and  watered  by  artificial  channels, 
led  us  to  the  Gate  of  Justice,  a  noble  arch,  with  a 
hand  and  a  key  graven  over  the  doorway.     Accord- 
ing to  an  old  legend,  when  this  hand  reaches  the 
key,  the  whole  pile  will  crumble  into  dust,  and 
reveal  the  treasures  hidden  in  former  ages  by  the 
Moslems.     Entering,  we  stood  in  the  Plaza  de  los 
Algibes,  or  Place  of  the  Cisterns,  so  called  from  the 
great  reservoirs  below  it,  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock 
by  the  Moors.     A  few  soldiers  now  guard  the  old 
fortress,  because  prisoners  are  kept  in  the  Alcazaba. 
They  are  no  longer  the  half-starved,  badly  clothed 
^^-retches  which   former   travellers   described;   for 
General  Narvaez  has  put  the   army   on   a   new 
and  better  footing,   so  that   now   they   compare 
advantageously,  in  appearance  at  least,  with  any 
troops  in  Europe,  the  British  only  excepted. 

On  our  right  was  the  huge  square  palace,  to 


156 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


build  which  Charles  V.  knocked  down  part  of 
the  Moorish  dwelling ;  but  reserving  the  wonders 
which  it  partially  hides  to  another  visit,  we  turned 
lirst  to  the  left,  and  ascended  the  Torre  de  la 
Vela,  or  Tower  of  the  Watch,  occupying  the 
extreme  point  of  the  rock,  and  looking  down  on 
the  city.  A  belfry  has  been  placed  on  the  top. 
They  ring  the  bell  on  the  anniversary  of  the  taking 
of  Granada :  it  also  regulates  the  irrigation  of  the 
Vega.  From  this  elevation  we  enjoyed  a  most 
superb  view  of  the  country. 

The  Alhambra  stands  on  a  precipitous  hill,  a 
spur  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  2,700  feet  long  by  700 
wide,  of  great  height,  and  separating  the  nan'ow 
ravine  of  the  Darro  from  the  wider  valley  of  the 
Xenil.  The  sides  of  this  eminence  form  a  plan- 
tation of  elms,  fig-trees,  and  vines,  with  delightfully 
odoriferous  flowers,  watered  by  channels  cut  by 
the  Moors,  which  derive  their  supply  from  the 
hills  behind,  by  means  of  an  aqueduct. 

The  city  proper  lies  immediately  below  the 
fortress,  on  the  tongue  of  land  formed  by  the  two 
rivers  at  their  junction.  The  streets,  being  naiTOw, 
are  scarcely  visible  from  the  watch-tower ;  but  the 


APPEARANCE   OF  THE   VEGA. 


157 


chui'ches,  especially  the  cathedral,  rise   conspicu- 
ously above  the  brown  roofs  of  the  houses. 

On  the  hill  slope  across  the  Darro  stands  the 
Albaycin,  a  large  suburb,  or  rather  half  of  the 
city,  where  Boabdil  retired   with   his  adherents, 
when  driven  by  traitors  from  his  hereditary  halls. 
Further  up  the  gorge  of  the  stream,  holes  in  the 
rock  indicate  the  dwellings  of  the  gipsies.     Shall 
I  attempt  to  describe  the   prospect   towards   the 
fertile  Vega,  that  "  vast  garden  of  delight,"  the 
land  of  wood  and  rills  of  water,  of  orchards  and 
vineyards,  with  its  groves  of  orange,  citron,  and 
myrtle,  its  limpid   fountains,  its  meadows,  com- 
fields,  plantations  of  olives  and  mulberry-trees,  a 
paradise  of  pleasant  places  amid  the  dreary  plains 
of  Spain  ?   Thirty  miles  long  by  twenty-five  broad, 
and  two  thousand  four  hundred  feet  above  the  sea, 
it  unites  the  delicious  climate  of  Southern  Europe 
with  the  coolness  of  a  less  heated  air ;  the  pro- 
ductions of  Germany  there  grow  side  by  side  with 
those  of  the  Barbary  coast. 

Between  it  and  the  Mediterranean,  mountains 
covered  with  perpetual  snow,  the  majestic  Sierra 
Nevada,   arrest   the  progress   of  those   withering 


158 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


winds  which  come  from  the  great  desert  of  Sahara ; 
while  on  the  north,  the  Sierra  de  Elvira,  a  pictu- 
resque range,  on  which  we  vvitnessed  the  most 
beautiful  effects  of  light  and  shade,  shut  out  this 
secluded  spot  from  the  valley  of  the  Guadalquiver. 
Pei-petual  verdure  decks  this  extended  plain,  for 
numerous  streams  descend  from  the  hills,  which, 
flowing  less  impetuously  as  they  reach  more  level 
ground,  in  ten  thousand  channels  meander  grace- 
fully among  the  groves.  No  wonder  that  the 
Moors  imagined  the  Paradise  of  their  prophet  to 
be  placed  in  that  part  of  heaven  which  overhung 
the  kingdom  of  Granada.  There  the  fragrance  of 
the  rose  and  the  citron  bower  mingle  with  the 
breezes  from  the  mountains,  while  the  serenity  of 
the  sky,  when  its  deep  azure,  as  the  sun  declines, 
is  dyed  with  tints  of  glory,  reminds  one  that  even 
within  sight  of  those  snowy  peaks  he  can  yet  enjoy 
*'  the  rich  evening  of  a  southern  heaven." 

The  new  soil  brought  down  by  the  torrents  from 
the  decomposition  of  the  rocks,  and  by  means  of 
the  irrigating  process  spread  over  the  fields,  adds 
greatly  to  the  fertility  of  the  Vega. 

But,  to  return  to  our  prospect ;  far  away  in  the 


SURRENDER   OF   THE   CITY. 


159 


direction  of  the  Loja  we  could  distinguish  the  wind- 
ings of  the  Xenil,  with  Soto  di  Roma  and  Santa  Fd 
nearer  the  city,  like  storehouses  among  the  vine- 
yards of  the  plain.  But  where,  we  asked,  is  the 
desolate  spot  where  Boabdil  bid  farewell  to  his 
beautiful  kingdom,  the  place  familiar  to  all  readers 
of  Spanish  history  as  ''el  ultimo  suspiro  del  Moro,^^ 
— "  the  last  sigh  of  the  Moor?" 

"  Yonder,"  pointing  to  an  eminence  toward  the 
south  and  west,  "  yonder,"  said  an  old  woman, 
who  keeps  the  Toitc  de  la  Vela,  "  is  the  very  point 
for  which  you  inquire." 

Between  us  and  these  heights  was  the  valley  of 
the  Xenil,  with  the  well-shaded  Alameda  of  the 
city ;  and  close  to  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers, 
we  could  see  the  house  where  Boabdil  is  said  to 
have  delivered  up  to  his  conquerors  the  keys  of 
Granada.  This  account,  however,  though  adopted 
by  Prescott  and  Irving,  seems  at  variance  with  a 
bas-relief  on  the  altar  of  the  royal  chapel  in  the 
cathedral,  which  represents  the  Moorish  king  on 
his  knees  at  the  Gate  of  the  Pomegi'anates,  giving 
the  keys  to  Ferdinand,  Isabella,  and  Cardinal 
!iIendoza,  who  are  all  on  horseback ;  while  a  train, 


160 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE   TIBER. 


THE  ALBERCA. 


161 


I 


II 


either  of  downcast  Moslems,  or  Christian  captives, 
I  forget  which,  issues  from  the  portal  of  the 
Alhambra. 

Whilst  we  were  enjoying  this  magnificent  pro- 
spect from  the  Tower  of  the  Watch,  the  peaks  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada  remained  lost  in  the  clouds  ;  but 
above  us  the  red  hill,  on  which,  in  Moorisli  times, 
stood  the  mosque,  overshadowed  the  gardens  in 
which  the  Generalife,  the  summer  palace  of  the 
African  sovereigns,  is  embosomed.  This  delight- 
ful villa  now  belongs  to  the  Marquis  of  Campo- 
tejar,  who  resides  at  Genoa.  It  is  a  white  building, 
the  most  elevated  in  Granada,  with  balconies  and 
terraced  pleasure-grounds,  fanned  always  by  the 
breezes  from  the  adjoining  Sierra. 

On  the  Vela  Tower  the  Christian  flag  was  first 
hoisted,  when  the  city  suiTcndered  to  the  victorious 
army  of  Castile  and  Aragon.  On  the  top  of  a  rock 
between  it  and  the  Xenil  stand  the  Vermilion 
Towers,  the  origin  of  which  remains  in  obscurity, 
but  they  appear  mucli  older  than  the  Alhambra. 
No  histories  have  ever  interested  me  so  mucli  as 
those  of  the  conquest  of  Spain  by  the  Moors,  and 
the    reconquest   of    Granada   by    Ferdinand    and 


Isabella.  Keplete  with  instances  of  noble  daring, 
heroic  self-devotion,  and  chivalrous  valour,  they 
inspire  an  ardent  longing  on  the  part  of  the  reader 
to  behold  the  soul-stirring  scenes.  Need,  then, 
I  say  what  were  my  feelings,  when  I  first  ascended 
the  Torre  de  la  Vela,  and  beheld  amid  nature's 
magnificence  the  Vega  of  Granada  stretched  out 
before  me  ?  The  realization  of  the  waking  dreams 
of  boyhood  chained  me  to  the  spot. 

But  much  remained  to  be  seen.  Returning 
therefore  to  the  Plaza  de  los  Algibes,  and  passing 
on  the  left  the  palace  of  Charles  V,  we  arrived  at 
a  high  stone  wall,  and  knocked  at  a  little  door. 
It  opened,  and  behold !  a  peep  of  a  different  world ; 
it  closed,  and  we  found  ourselves,  with  nothing  to 
remind  us  of  the  unpoetical  age  we  had  left, 
walking  beneath  the  arches  of  the  Court  of  the 
Fishpond,  the  noble  Alberca,  where  reclined  the 
Mussulman  monarchs  of  Spain.  No  part  of  the 
Alcazar  at  Seville  can  be  compared  with  this 
quadrangle.  Its  graceful  pillars  and  filagree  work, 
its  basin  of  pure  waters  stocked  with  gold  fish 
and  surrounded  by  a  hedge  of  myrtle,  and  its  cool 
marble  halls,  seemed  to  invite  a  luxurious  repose. 


r 


162 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


lindaraxa's  garden. 


163 


■M 


Could  this  fairy  scene  be  a  reality,  or  had  the 
wand  of  a  magician  recalled  the  glories  of  the  past? 
We  looked  around  for  an  answer  to  the  question, 
and  beheld  a  portal,  passing  through  which  we 
found  ourselves  in  the  Court  of  the  Lions  ;  the  most 
magnificent  specimen  of  Moorish  architecture  in 
the  world.     One  hundred  and  forty  elegant  pillars 
there  support  the  arches  and  decorated  roof;  while 
in  the  centre,  a  fountain,  raised  on  the  backs  of 
lions,   throws  up  its  cooling  streams.      Need  we 
wonder  that  Boabdil  sighed  on  leaving  a  palace 
like   this?  I   felt,  on   entering  the   court,   small 
though  it  is,  as  if  in  the  presence  of  those  Avanior 
kings  whose  names  for  so  many  ages  struck  terror 
into  Christendom. 

Two  apartments,  of  beautiful  proportions  and 
ornamented  with  remarkable  taste,  open  from  this 
court-the  Hall  of  the  Abencerrages,  where  history 
or  fable  tells  us  that  that  tribe  were  treacherously 
murdered  by  Abenabdoulah,  and  the  Sala  de  las 
dos  Hermauas,  or  Two  Sisters,  where  you  see 
a  gallery  for  ladies,  from  the  jalousies  of  which 
they  could,  while  unseen,  gaze  on  the  company. 
The  eastern  end  of  the  Court  of  the  Lions  conducts 


I 


I 


t%. 


to  the  Hall  of  Justice,  adorned  with  a  fresco  re- 
presenting Moorish  counsellors  in  divan  assembled. 
The  floors  of  the  halls  are  of  white  marble,  and 
recesses  in  the  walls  of  that  called  the  Two  Sisters 
indicate  the  former  position  of  the  sleeping  apart- 
ments.    The  window  of  this  elegant  room  looks 
into  the  garden  of  Lindaraxa,  a  lovely  open  space, 
fragrant  with  the  perfume  of  lemons,  oranges,  and 
flowers.     In  the  apartments  opposite,  Washington 
Irving,    to    whom    the    Alhambra    owes    half  its 
charms,  took  up  his  abode. 

As  we  gazed  on  this  scene  of  enchantment,  the 
sun  shone  brightly  on  the  shrubs,  a  gentle  breeze 
rustled  the  orange  branches,  and  the  smell  of 
odoriferous  plants  rose  towards  the  balconies. 
I  could  almost  fancy  myself  borne  back  to  the 
times  when  dark-eyed  beauties  peopled  these  fairy 
bowers,  and  the  courts  of  the  Alhambra  were  one 
blaze  of  purple  and  of  gold. 

The  Tocador,  or  Balcony  of  the  Sultanas,  occu- 
pies an  aerial  tower,  looking  down  on  the  Darro  and 
across  to  the  Albaycin.  In  one  corner  of  it  a  large 
marble  flag  full  of  holes,  through  which  the  smoke 
of  perfimies  ascended  from   the   furnaces   below, 


164 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


INSCRIPTIONS   ON   THE   WALLS. 


165 


shows  the  spot  where  the  Moorish  Queen  sat  to  be 
fumigated.  From  this  cabinet  the  ladies  could, 
themselves  invisible,  watch  the  city  and  enjoy 
the  charming  prospect  from  their  windows. 
The  lofty  rock  beneath  is  quite  perpendicular. 
The  stranger  next  descends  into  the  secret  room, 
entering,  from  the  garden  of  Lindaraxa,  an  apart- 
ment constructed  as  a  whispering  gallery,  near  the 
ante-rooms  and  baths,  where,  soothed  by  strains 
of  music,  the  lords  of  creation  smoked  and  lounged 

on  divans. 

Returning,  we  had  a  fine  vista  of  the  little 
orange  grove  through  the  vaulted  treasure  room, 
guarded  by  two  figures,  who  look  towards  the 
same  spot,  and  revealed  thereby,  according  to  the 
legend,  the  stores  of  gold  there  hidden.  Beyond 
this  curious  passage  is  the  mosque,  which 
Charles  V.  converted  into  a  paltry  chapel. 
Ascending  from  this  tour  of  the  lower  rooms,  we 
found  ourselves  suddenly  in  the  magnificent  Hall 
of  the  Ambassadors,  where  Boabdil  assembled  a 
council  of  warriors,  alcaydes,  and  alfaquis,  or 
doctors  of  the  faith,  before  he  surrendered  Granada 
to    the   Christians.     It  occupies   the   entire   base 


» 


of  the  Tower  of  Comares,  being  thirty-seven  feet 
square  and  seventy-five  feet  high.  In  the  recess 
of  the  window,  which  overlooks  the  Darro,  stood 
the  throne.  The  walls  are  covered  with  Moorish 
inscriptions,  and  a  fine  dark  roof  adds  greatly  to 
the  elegance  of  the  apartment.  In  the  long  ante- 
room adjoining  the  neighbouring  Court  of  the 
Alberca,  you  see  remnants  of  the  ancient  gilding, 
which  have  suffered  little  in  the  freshness  of  their 
colour  from  the  destroying  hand  of  time.  Mosaic 
work,  disposed  in  curious  festoons,  ornaments  the 
lower  part  of  the  walls. 

This  terminates  the  splendid  suite  of  courts  and 
halls  where  dwelt  the  Arab  conquerors  of  Granada. 
From  without,  no  beauty  can  be  discerned.  A  poor 
tiled  roof,  rough  red  walls  of  gravel  and  pebbles 
daubed  over  with  plaster,  windows  of  unequal  size 
and  irregularly  placed,  and  balconies  of  coarse 
materials,  give  no  indication  that  within  may  be 
seen  a  palace  unlike  anything  else  on  earth,  the 
very  fairy  abode  of  which  we  read  in  our  youth  in 
those  tales  of  genii  familiar  to  the  Arabian  ear. 

Returning  once  more  to  the  Court  de  los  Algibes, 
we   followed   a   path   leading   through   the   dirty 


166 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


THE  ROYAL  CHAPEL. 


167 


village,  which,  with  its  church,  occupies  the 
opposite  side  of  the  hill,  and  entering  a  little 
garden,  crossed  it  to  the  Torre  de  las  Infantas, 
where  Zayda,  Zorajda,  and  Zorahayda  were  con- 
fined, and  from  the  window  of  which  two  of  them 
escaped  to  the  arms  of  Christian  cavaliers.  As  a 
dirty,  miserable  family  inhabit  this  tower,  the  fine 
carving  is  being  rapidly  spoiled  by  the  smoke. 
A  savage  looking  lad  rushed  out  when  we  reached 
the  door.  The  tower  is  one  of  four  which  rise 
above  the  walls  of  the  fortress,  where  they  approach 
the  narrow  ravine  separating  it  from  the  gardens 
of  the  Generalife. 

Another  of  them,  called  La  Torre  de  los  Siete 
8uelos,  or  of  the  Seven  Floors,  celebrated  in  the 
vicinity  as  the  scene  of  strange  apparitions,  has 
become  still  more  noted  since  Mr.  Irving's  dis- 
covery that  by  it  Boabdil  departed  from  the 
Alhambra.  Great  masses  of  stone,  covered  by 
fig-trees  and  other  plants,  lie  round  this  porch, 
monuments  of  the  devastation  committed  by  the 
French,  when  they  evacuated  the  fortress.  The 
sun  being  exceedingly  powerful,  we  gladly  escaped 
from   its   rays   to  the  gardens  of  the  Generalife, 


where  nut-trees,  cypresses,  and  vines  trained  on 
forest  trees,  afford  a  delightful  refuge.  Ascending 
to  the  summer  tower  above  the  palace,  we  enjoyed 
a  view  still  finer  than  that  obtained  from  the 
Torre  de  la  Vela,  for  at  our  feet  lay  the  Alhambra, 
with  its  halls,  courts,  and  towers.  In  the  patio 
of  this  villa  are  cypresses  seven  hundred  years  old, 
the  scene  of  Queen  Zoraya's  reputed  misdemeanour 
with  the  Abencerrage.  The  rooms  contain  inferior 
pictures  of  Ferdinand,  Isabella,  Charles  Y.,  Boabdil, 
and  Gonsalvo  di  Cordova. 

Our  homeward  route  lay  along  a  steep  path, 
leading  down  the  ravine,  between  the  Alhambra 
and  the  Generalife,  and  looking  across  to  the 
Albaycin,  with  the  gipsy  dwellings  in  the  caves 
on  the  Darro.  From  the  opposite  side  of  that 
stream  the  red  walls  of  the  Vela  and  Comares 
towers,  and  the  balcony  of  the  sultanas,  have  a 
most  imposing  effect.  We  retraced  our  way  to 
the  hotel  by  the  "  Zacatin,"  or  street  of  shop- 
keepers, still  cheerful,  though  not  so  bustling 
as  when  monarchs  reigned  in  the  commanding 
fortress. 

In  the  Royal  Chapel  of  the  Cathedral  are  two 


168 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


CARTUJA  CONVENT. 


169 


splendid  marble  monuments,  one  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  the  other  to  Philip  and  Joanna,  the  two 
latter  lying  with  a^'erted  faces,  in  death  as  in  life 
estranged.  No  one  must  visit  this  place,  where 
they  hand  him  Ferdinand's  sword  and  crown  him 
with  his  diadem,  without  descending  into  the 
dreary  vault,  wdiere  that  monarch  and  his  once 
energetic  queen  sleep  in  leaden  coffins  till  the 
resurrection  of  the  just.  The  adjoining  cathedral 
itself  is  a  large  edifice,  conceived  in  the  worst 
possible  taste,  and  remarkable  for  nothing  but 
whitewash  and  gilding.  What  a  pity  that  the 
money  which  its  erection  cost,  had  not  been 
expended  in  dignifying  Granada  with  another 
temple  like  that  of  Seville,  for  the  worship  of  the 
Most  High ! 

Granada  contains  about  60,000  inhabitants  ; 
the  Darro,  in  some  places  arched  over  like  a  drain, 
divides  it  into  two  parts.  The  Carrera  avenue 
leads  along  its  banks  to  the  Xenil  and  the  Alameda. 
That  portion  of  the  city  has  spacious  streets  :  but 
the  other  thoroughfares  are  mere  lanes,  opening 
into  two  squares,  the  Plaza  de  la  Constitucion, 
formerly  well  known  as  the  Vivarrambla,  and  the 


1 


1. 


Plaza  Nueva.  The  shops  and  most  of  the  houses 
are  in  the  Moorish  style  ;  some  of  the  narrow  w^ays 
reminded  me  of  the  bazaars  at  Smyrna. 

One  morning,  before  breakfast,  I  took  a  walk 
(\o\Mn  the  Carrera  avenue  to  the  junction  of  the 
Darro  with  the  Xenil,  and  then  along  the  Alameda 
by  the  banks  of  the  latter.  The  air  was  bitterly 
cold,  for  during  the  night  a  snow-storm  had 
whitened  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  the  wind  blew 
directly  from  its  summits.  This  public  promenade 
is  extensive  and  wtII  laid  out ;  fountains  cool  its 
gi'oves,  and  canals  from  the  Xenil  produce  perpetual 
verdure.  In  the  forenoon  we  sallied  out  to  visit 
the  Cartuja  convent,  situated  some  little  distance 
from  the  northern  suburbs.  Our  way  lay  by  the 
Triunfo,  a  pretty  public  garden  which  two  years 
ago  was  a  waste,  but  the  shrubs  and  trees  have 
gi'own  wonderfully  in  that  short  time.  Government 
now  owns  the  convent,  having  sold,  on  the  confis- 
cation of  monastic  property,  the  extensive  walled 
garden,  to  a  lady  for  a  tenth  part  of  its  value. 

Several  now  wealthy  families  in  Spain  owe  their 
riches  to  these  spoils.  We  must  recollect,  however, 
that  in  buying  them  even  at  a  very  cheap   rate, 

VOL.  I.  I 


170 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


tliey  incurred  a  great  risk ;  for,  had  Don  Carlos 
succeeded,  they  would  have  lost  their  purchase- 
money,  besides  suffering  punishment  for  their 
rapacity  and  treason  to  the  priesthood.  Entering 
the  now  deserted  halls,  we  were  ushered  through 
a  door  formed  of  tortoiseshell  and  ivory,  richly 
inlaid,  into  the  chapel,  and  from  thence  into  the 
sacristy,  which,  in  point  of  tasteful  decoration,  can 
scarcely  be  excelled.  Between  splendid  pilasters 
of  jasper  are  armoires,  or  drawers,  of  cedar,  faced 
and  covered  with  tortoiseshell,  ebony,  and  ivory, 
where  formerly  the  priests  kept  their  vestments. 
Graceful  pillars  of  jasper,  with  marble  capitals, 
surmount  the  altar,  which,  on  each  side,  has  two 
splendid  fonts  of  agate  built  into  the  wall.  Some 
good  frescoes  adorn  the  roof  of  this  handsome  apart- 
ment, now  tenantless,  empty,  and  silent  as  the 

tomb. 

We  next  climbed  the  steep  street  of  the  Albaycin, 
inhabited  chiefly  by  gipsies.  The  petticoats  of 
the  women,  short,  floimced,  and  invariably  of 
bright  colours,  such  as  yellow  and  red,  have  a 
singular  effect  in  the  doors  of  low  filthy  dwellings. 
Arrived  at  the  terrace  on  the  hill  top  in  front  of 


THE   VERMILION   TOWERS. 


171 


St.  Nicholas's  Church,  we  had  a  splendid  prospect, 
for  the  clouds  had  cleared  away,  revealing  distinctly 
objects  which  had  before  been  hidden. 

Before  us  the  snowy  peak  of  Veleta  towered 
ten  thousand  feet  above  the  plain,  its  hoary 
summit  contrasting  beautifully  with  the  trees  and 
gardens  of  the  Generalife  and  Alhambra  in  the 
foreground,  most  of  them  as  yet  green,  though  a 
few  were  tinged  with  the  yellow  of  autumn. 
Another  white  mountain  closed  the  view  towards 
the  head  waters  of  the  Darro ;  between  which  and 
the  elevation  where  we  stood,  the  College  on  Monte 
Sacro  rose  conspicuously  above  the  gipsy  holes  in 
the  rocks.  In  my  opinion,  the  Moorish  palace 
appears  to  the  greatest  advantage  from  this  point, 
its  various  buildings,  and  the  singularity  of  its 
position,  standing  out  into  bold  relief. 

Let  us  again  enter  the  Gate  of  the  Pomegra- 
nates, and  after  climbing  the  steep  hill,  to  inspect 
the  curious  old  Vermilion  Towers,  retrace  our  steps 
to  the  Portal  of  Justice,  so  called  because  between 
the  outer  and  inner  gateways,  in  Moorish  times, 
judges  sat  to  hear  pleading ;  a  custom  common  in 
the  East,  and  mentioned  frequently  in  the  Scrip- 

i2 


172 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


tures.*  Under  the  dominion  of  the  Arabs,  the 
Alhambra  could  hold  40,000  men  ;  it  as  frequently 
served  as  a  refuge  for  the  king  against  rebellious 
subjects,  as  a  stronghold  to  defy  foreign  foes. 

Until  within  the  last  few  years,  no  one  cared  for 
its  noble  monuments,  which  consequently  fell 
rapidly  into  decay.  Contrabandistas  and  lawless 
characters  there  took  up  their  abode  to  escape  the 
officers  of  justice,  who  might  have  seized  them  in 
the  town  below.  To  such  an  extent  indeed  had 
this  gone,  that  the  palace  of  the  Moorish  kings  had 
become  in  very  truth  a  den  of  robbers.  Now  all 
such  characters  have  been  expelled ;  no  longer  can 
idlers  be  seen  angling  for  swallows  from  the  walls, 
and  convicts  are  constantly  employed  repairing  and 
restoring  whatever  seems  likely  to  decay.  Half 
the  houses  in  the  village  adjoining  were  some 
time  ago  demolished  by  order  of  government,  but 
the  outer  towers  yet  remain  in  the  possession  of 
the  tatterdemalion  families  whom  Washington 
Irving  so  graphically  describes.  *'  I  have  often 
observed,"  says  that  delightful  writer,  "that  the 
more  proudly  a  mansion  has  been  tenanted  in  the 

*  'Daniel  ii.  49. 


THE   ALHAMBRA. 


US 


days  of  its  prosperity,  the  humbler  are  its  inhabit- 
ants in  the  day  of  its  decline,  and  that  the  palace 
of  the  king  commonly  ends  in  being  the  nestling 
place  of  the  beggar." 

Entering  once  more  the  Court  of  the  Myrtles, 
let  us  linger  a  moment  to  observe  the  minute  and 
intricate  fretwork  of  stucco  over  the  pillars,  the 
peristyles  paved  with  marble,  and  the  oft-repeated 
Arabic  inscription,  "  There  is  no  conqueror  but 
God ;"  or  shall  we  pass  into  the  ante-chamber,  to 
admire  again  the  coloured  ornaments,  the  red, 
yellow,  and  blue  of  which  the  Moors  were  s<i 
fond  ? 

Slowly  we  wander  into  the  Court  of  the  Lions, 
and  leaning  against  one  of  that  gi-aceful  colonnade 
which  surrounds  it,  gaze  on  the  border  of  small 
escutcheons  on  the  walls,  or  that  alabaster  fountain 
which  cooled  the  Royal  Moors.  How  beautiful 
the  roof  of  the  Sala  de  las  dos  Hcrmanas,  shining 
with  lapis  lazuli,  and  the  noble  Hall  of  the 
Abencerrages,  where  at  night,  it  is  said,  low 
murmuring  sounds  may  be  heard,  as  the  spirits  of 
the  mighty  dead  converse  together,  in  their  un- 
known sepulchres.     Moderns  ascribe  these  noises 


174 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


to  the  dropping  and  flowing  of  tlie  water,  which 
runs  through  every  part  of  the  hill ;  but  the 
popular  behef  must  not  thus  be  rudely  assailed : 

"  When  Science  from  creation's  face 
Enchantment's  veil  withdraws, 
"What  lovely  visions  then  give  place, 
To  cold  material  laws." 

Bo  my  readers  recollect  that  in  the  Hall  of 
Justice  liigh  mass  was  performed,  in  the  presence 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  after  the  capture  of  the 
city?  At  that  Te  Deum  Columbus  was  present. 
Imagination  nearly  persuaded  me  that  I  heard  the 
Ghria  in  excelsis^  and  saw  the  careworn  face  of 
liim  who  added  a  greater  kingdom  than  Granada 
to  the  dominions  of  Spain.  How  thrilling  must 
have  been  that  scene,  when  the  Court  of  the  Lions 
was  filled  with  Castilian  chivalry,  and  nmg  with 
the  praises  of  the  Christian's  God!  Lurking 
among  the  ruins  on  the  neighbouring  hill,  the  Silla 
del  Moro,  where  sat  Boabdil  on  a  former  occasion, 
looking  down  on  a  rebellious  town,  might  not  some 
forlorn  Moor  have  been  watching  the  gorgeous 
spectacle  below,  as  the  voices  of  chanters  rose  on 
the  breeze,  the  Catholic  flag  floated  from  the  Vela 


WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


175 


Tower,  and  the  tramp  of  Andalucian  steeds 
mingled  with  the  hum  of  the  distant  city,  in  which 
the  Christians  celebrated  their  victory?  Even  to 
this  day  the  floors  cherish  the  belief  that  they  will 
reconquer  Granada ;  for  this  they  ofler  up  prayers 
every  Friday,  and  some  of  them  preserve  carefully 
the  keys  of  apartments  in  the  Alhambra,  which 
their  ancestors  occupied,  and  where  they  hope 
their  children  will  dwell. 

But  hand  me  Washington  Irving's  charming 
tales,  that  I  may  read  alone  in  Lindaraxa's  garden, 
undisturbed  except  by  the  chirping  of  the  swallow, 
or  the  rustling  of  the  orange  leaves,  as  the  breeze 
from  the  sierra  plays  among  the  branches.  Time 
flies,  however,  and  I  must  begone,  I  hasten  along 
the  corridor,  taking  a  last  look  at  the  Albaycin 
from  the  Balcony  of  the  Sultanas,  to  the  Hall  of 
the  Ambassadors,  where  months  might  be  spent 
by  the  scholar  in  deciphering  the  sentences  from 
the  Koran,  and  other  ornaments  on  the  walls. 
As  the  day  is  clear,  let  me  now  ascend  the  tottering 
brick  staircase  leading  to  the  Tower  of  Comares, 
from  which  Boabdil's  mother  lowered  her  son  to 
save  him  from  his  foes.     From  the  top  of  this 


176 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


building,  the  liigliest  in  the  Alhambra,  1  again 
enjoyed  the  prospect  of  the  striking  scenery 
around.  Below  me  were  the  halls,  courts,  and 
corridors  of  the  fairy  palace;  hundreds  of  feet 
further  down,  the  Darro  trickled  along  its  stony 
bed ;  among  the  rocks  on  its  banks  I  could  see  the 
flaming  petticoats  of  the  gipsy  women  as  they 
scaled  to  their  dens  from  the  city;  the  sound  of 
church  bells,  and  the  stentorian  tones  of  water- 
carriers  invoking  custom,  rose  on  the  wind ;  while 
far  above  the  green  foliage  of  the  Generalife, 
Veleta  reared  in  middle  air  his  diadem  of  snow. 

Lonely  and  forsaken  now  are  the  halls  of  the 
Alhambra.  There  no  longer  minstrels  mingle 
their  strains  with  the  murmur  of  fountains;  no 
longer  turbaned  brows  gaze  from  the  battlements 
on  the  lances  of  the  plain;  the  atabal  has  been 
hushed;  the  revels  are  over,  and  not  a  sound 
disturbs  the  deserted  palace,  but  the  shrill  note  of 
the  martlet,  and  the  melancholy  sighing  of  the 
wind.  But,  shade  of  Boabdil  el  Chico !  hast  thou 
not  been  revenged ;  is  not  your  ancient  palace  an 
apt  emblem  of  that  desolate  land  from  whicli  the 
Moslems  were  driven ;  do  not  the  sterile  valleys  of 


EMPLOYMENTS   OF  THE   PEOPLE. 


177 


the  Alpuxarras  lament  the  cruel  expulsion  of  the 
industrious  Moors?  How  would  the  generous 
Isabella  weep,  were  she  to  arise  and  behold  the 
fallen  fortunes  of  the  once  gi*eat  Castile ! 

Once  in  descending  from  a  visit  to  the  Alhambra, 
we  chose  a  path  by  the  Vermilion  Towers,  which 
we  thought  would  lead  us  direct  to  the  banks  of 
the  Xenil ;  but  on  reaching  the  base  of  the  hill,  we 
soon  lost  ourselves  in  the  narrow  ill-paved  streets, 
which  verily  were  constructed  without  a  plan.  In 
the  course  of  our  walks,  we  observed  many  signs 
of  industry,  especially  among  the  females  of  tlie 
population. 

Throughout  the  province,  much  attention  is 
paid  to  the  rearing  of  silk- worms,  and  consequently 
to  the  cultivation  of  mulberry-trees,  on  the  leaves 
of  which  these  voracious  animals  feed.  The  pea- 
sants carefully  tend  the  plants,  cut  off  their  tops  to 
increase  the  number  of  leaves,  and  take  care  never 
to  present  damp  food  to  the  insects.  By  these  and 
other  means  they  have  arrived  at  great  perfection 
in  the  production  of  silk,  which  the  women  of  the 
city  wind  and  weave.  Woollen  and  linen  stuffs 
also  employ  in  their  manufacture  a  considerable 

i3 


178 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


portion  of  the   inhabitants,   who   work,   like   the 
Scotch,  in  their  own  dwellings. 

With  Granada  and  the  Alhambra  I  was  any- 
thing but  disappointed,  although  for  years  I  had 
looked  forward  to  behold  a  fairy  palace  and  a  noble 
town.  Seen  from  the  Vega,  or  the  heights  of  the 
Albaycin,  the  Moorish  fortress  appears  a  striking 
and  superbly  situated  ruin.  When  monarchs  there 
held  their  court,  how  brilliant  must  have  been  the 
lovely  halls  within.  Now  all  is  changed;  their 
glory  has  departed,  and  time  is  carrying  on  the 
work  which  ruthless  ignorance  began;  sometimes, 
too,  the  ground  trembles  under  the  red  walls,  and 
it  would  not  much  surprise  me  to  hear  that  another 
and  greater  earthquake  has  converted  the  tottering 
palace  with  its  watch-towers  and  gardens  into  a 
rocky  and  desolate  waste.  To  say  so,  would  be 
heresy  in  the  opinion  of  those  deluded  Moors,  who 
pray  for  restoration  to  Granada,  in  the  mosques  of 
Barbary,  who  in  poverty  and  exile  preserve  their 
Spanish  titles  in  the  hovels  of  Tetuan;  but  let 
them  come  and  see  the  cracked  walls  and  crushed 
arches,  let  them  remember  the  convidsions  of  the 
earth   by   which    Charles  Y.    was    deterred   from 


RELIGION   OF   MAHOMET. 


179 


finishing  his  palace,  before  expressing  so  confident 
a  belief  that  a  Mahometan  prince  will  yet  reign  in 
the  Court  of  the  Lions;  that  a  muezzin  will  yet 
rom  the  Vela  Tower  summon  the  faithful  to 
prayers.  Pleasant  indeed  it  is  to  indulge  such 
hopes;  but  they  are  vain;  for  Islamism  no  longer 
girds  on  its  sword  to  conquer;  its  power  culminated 
in  the  West  when  the  Saracens  reached  Tours, 
and  the  Moslems  of  the  East  now  entertain  ideas 
far  different  from  those  still  fondly  cherished  in 
Africa;  they  look  forward  to  a  time,  not  of  conquest 
and  triumph,  not  to  extension  of  empire  on  the 
Danube  and  the  Drave,  but  to  a  season  of  weak- 
ness and  decay,  that  will  end  when  the  cross  once 
more  gleams  from  the  dome  of  St.  Sophia,  and  the 
colours  of  a  Christian  host  wave  from  the  Seraskier's 
Tower. 

The  religion  of  Mahomet  appears  to  me  more 
like  the  comet  which,  describing  in  the  heavens  an 
erratic  course,  alarms  the  rustic  unversed  in  its 
locomotive  laws,  than  like  the  planets,  which,  re- 
volving regularly  in  their  spheres,  seem  to  teach 
the  immutability  of  God.  From  the  deserts  of 
Arabia  it  burst  upon  mankind;  astonishment  seized 


180 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


upon  the  Christian  powers  after  Damascus  and 
Grand  Cairo  fell,  and  Europe  started  as  if  paralysed 
by  an  electric  shock,  when  Constantine  Pala^ologus 
cast  away  the  pui-ple  amid  the  ruins  of  Byzantium. 
Scarcely  had  the  chivalry  of  the  West  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  a  blow  so  discouraging,  when 
the  victory  of  Mohacs  opened  up  new  countries  to 
the  ambition  of  Sulieman  the  Magnificent,  and  the 
universal  panic  continued  to  prevail,  till  Charles 
Martel  showed  that  the  Saracens  were  not  invin- 
cible; till  they  shrank  back  from  the  walls  of 
Vienna,  when  the  adjoining  heights  displayed  the 
banners  of  John  Sobieski,  King  of  Poland.  History 
relates  no  career  more  wonderful  than  that  of  the 
Moslem  conquerors,  from  the  date  of  the  Ilegira, 
to  the  time  when  every  mother  in  Christendom 
prayed  for  deliverance  from  the  annies  of  the  cres- 
cent. But  as  a  meteor  rushing  through  the  sky, 
it  passed  over  us,  for  a  moment  striking  terror  into 
men,  then  sinking  into  sudden  night.  The  con- 
quests of  the  Arab,  like  his  style  of  building,  soon 
reached  their  zenith,  and  as  rapidly  were  checked. 
*'  Much  he  achieved;  and  yet,  in  the  effort  of  his 
overtaxed  invention,  restrained  from  its  proper  food, 


KELIGION  OF  MAHOMET. 


181 


he  made  his  architecture  a  glittering  vacillation  of 
undisciplined  enchantment,  and  left  the  lustre  of 
its  edifices  to  wither  like  a  startled  dream,  whose 
beauty  we  may  indeed  feel,  and  whose  instruction 
we  may  receive,  but  must  smile  at  its  inconsistency 
and  mourn  over  its  evanescence."  * 


•  Ruskin'a  «  Stones  of  Venice,"  vol.  i.  p.  229. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

GRANADA  BY  MOONLIGHT — SPANISH  DILIGENCES  —  OUR  FELLOW- 
TRAVELLERS —  CONTINENTAL  M.VNNERS  —  DEGENERACY  OF  THE 
HIGHER  CLASSES— EXAMPLE  OF  THE  COURT — NECESSITY  FOR  A 
MORAL  REFORM — VIEW  OF  THE  SIERRA  NEVADA — BADNESS  OF 
THE  ROAD — INNS  IN  SPAIN — DETENTION  DURING  THE  NIGHT — 
BAILEN — ^THE  OLIVE-TREES — FURTHER  DELAY  AT  L.V  CAROUNA 
— GORGE  OF  DESPESa-PERROS — ENTER  LA  MANCHA — MISERY  OF 
THE  PEOPLE — VALDEPENAS — THE  WINDMILLS — DON  QUIXOTE — 
ERRONEOUS  IDEAS  PREVALENT  REGARDING  THE  SCENERY  OF 
THE  PENINSULA — ABSENCE  OF  TREES  AND  SHRUBS — NAKEDNESS 
OP  THE  FIELDS — INHABITANTS  OP  LA  GUARDLA — THEIR  EXTREME 
WRETCHEDNESS — SPANISH  BEGGARS — FOURTH  ACCIDENT  TO  OUR 
CONVEYANCE — ARANJUEZ — ARRIVAL  AT  MADRID — DOUANIERS — 
THE    PUERTO    DEL  SOL. 

Granada  by  moonliglit!  The  evening  before 
our  departure  was  cloudless,  and  the  moon  shone 
clear  in  the  heavens.  I  ascended  to  the  flat  roof 
of  the  hotel,  to  enjoy  the  extraordinary  prospect 
around.  The  houses  and  narrow  streets  of  the  old 
town  were  buried  in  silence,  and  the  chastened 


GRANADA   BY   MOONLIGHT. 


183 


rays  of  "  the  light  by  night "  shone  full  on  their 
turrets  and  balconies ;  here  and  there  a  huge  church 
rose  grimly  above  them,  and  the  Alhambra's  red 
towers  appeared  like  giant  guardians  of  the  sleeping 
city.  Beyond  the  dark  Vega  I  could  distinguish 
the  rocky  hills  of  Elvira,  and  towards  the  south- 
east, the  heavens  seemed  to  touch 

"  Th*  eternal  snow  that  crowns  Veleta's  head."  • 

A  few  light  fleecy  clouds  hovered  on  the  other 
peaks  of  the  Sierra,  serving  only  to  mark  their 
great  elevation  above  the  plain.  Now  and  then  a 
bell  tolled,  and  a  cold  breeze,  descending  from  the 
mountains,  fanned  the  housetops.  What  a  scene 
for  Salvator  Rosa !  Would  that  some  native  genius 
might  arise  to  immortalize  this  province  as  that 
gi'cat  painter  has  immortalized  the  Abruzzi!  I  felt 
a  sort  of  indescribable  awe,  produced  partly  by  the 
novelty  and  grandeur  of  the  scene  stretched  out 
before  me,  the  snowy  hills,  the  grim  old  Alhambra, 
and  the  Moorish  city,  and  partly  by  the  historical 
recollections  connected  with  places,  which,  though 
familiar  to  me  as  household  words,  I  had  scarcely 

•  Mrs.  Hemans's  '*  Abencerrage." 


184 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBKK. 


expected  to  behold.  The  moon  was  careering 
in  the  sky,  and  iUuminating  the  white  diadem  of 
Veleta;  the  Vela  Tower  of  the  fortress  seemed  to 
approach  nearer  as  the  light  changed,  and  shadows 
came  and  went  on  the  slopes  of  the  sierras,  like 
spirits  moving  to  their  midnight  revelry.  I  wished 
that  some  African  santon,  versed  in  the  legends  of 
Granada,  might  join  me  on  the  balcony,  to  speak 
rapturously  of  the  scenery,  and  mutter  imprecations 
on  the  head  of  Boabdil  el  Cliico,  who  gave  up  all 
to  the  Christians. 

In  Spain  it  is  often  no  easy  matter  to  get  seats 
in  the  diligences.  So  few  public  conveyances 
travel  on  the  roads,  that  places  in  them  are  fre- 
quently secured  weeks  beforehand.  For  tliis  reason, 
we  found  ourselves  under  the  necessity  of  travel- 
ling from  Granada  to  Madrid,  a  journey  of  sixty 
hours,  although  only  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles, 
in  the  rotonde.  The  Spanish  diligences  are  built 
in  the  same  form  as  the  French,  but  drawn  by 
mules  instead  of  horses.  Generally  speaking, 
however,  two  small  horses  act  as  leaders  to  a  team 
of  from  six  to  eight  mules.  On  one  of  these  a  lad 
rides,  and,  incredible  as  the  statement  may  appear, 


SPANISH    DILIGENCES. 


185 


the  same  boy  rode  w^ithout  rest,  except  at  meals, 
from  mid-day  on  Wednesday,  until  one  o'clock  on 
Saturday  morning,  or  the  entire  distance  to  the 
capital.  Strangers  may  well  w^onder  how  these 
postilions  can  survive  such  extraordinary  exertion. 
Alongside  of  each  team  a  driver  runs,  not  so  much 
to  guide  the  animals,  as  to  whip  those  which 
cannot  be  reached  either  by  the  conductor  or  the 
lad  on  the  leader.  These  men  run  surprisingly 
fast.  Instead  of  the  sombrero,  which  w411  not 
keep  on  during  quick  motion,  they  w^ear  parti- 
coloured handkerchiefs  wrapped  round  their  heads. 
Soldiers  always  accompany  the  diligence  between 
Granada  and  Malaga,  on  account  of  the  frequent 
robberies  committed  on  that  road;  but  of  late  this 
guard  has  been  discontinued  on  the  Madrid  route, 
which  is  patrolled  constantly  by  gens-d' amies, 
both  on  foot  and  horseback.  We  saw  great  num- 
bers of  these  officers — lierce-looking  fellows  they 
are,  with  their  cocked  hats,  muskets  and  musta- 
chios,  as  they  unexpectedly  rise  up  from  the  brush- 
wood to  see  who  passes. 

The  interior  of  our  conveyance  contained  six 
cloaked    Spaniards;    four    men    in    jackets    and 


186 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER 


sombreros  occupied  the  banquette,  and  a  gentleman 
with  his  wife  and  two  boys  the  coupe.  These  last 
behaved  with  politeness,  but  the  others,  like  most 
of  their  countr^^men  with  whom  we  came  into  con- 
tact, did  not  favourably  impress  us.  I  certainly 
was  disappointed  to  find  that  persons  moving  in 
good  society  thought  nothing,  like  their  Gallic 
neighbours,  of  staring  at,  standing  before,  and 
pushing  against  ladies,  or  of  sneering  at  the  cos- 
tume of  strangers.  Excepting  in  Italy,  one  rarely 
meets  on  the  continent  with  really  polished  man- 
ners, although  somehow  or  other  a  most  mistaken 
idea  has  got  abroad,  that  rudeness  characterises 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  ''  I  have  before  this  been 
con\4nced,"  says  a  very  competent  judge — Lady 
Emmeline  Stuart  Wortley,*  "that  no  manners  on 
earth  can  be  more  thoroughly  distinguished,  noble, 
and  gracefully  polished  than  those  of  a  high-bom 
American  gentleman;  nay,  I  doubt  whether  any 
can  equal  them,  unless  those  of  our  own  country- 
men." Those  who  have  seen  much  of  European 
travelling,  and  who  have  also  visited  our  Trans- 
atlantic friends  in  their  own  land,  know  well  how 
*  "  Travels  in  the  United  States,"  vol.  ii.  p.  243. 


CONTINENTAL   MANNERS. 


187 


true  this  testimony  is.  Those,  on  the  other  hand, 
wdiose  continental  experience  consists  of  a  trip  up 
the  Rhine,  or  a  week  in  Paris,  whose  acquaintance 
with  the  United  States  goes  no  further  than  meet- 
ing half  a  dozen  vulgar  commercial  travellers  of 
that  nation,  have  uniformly  arrived  at  a  different 
conclusion.  I  have  met  with  more  rudeness  in 
France  than  during  a  journey  of  several  thousand 
miles  in  the  territory  of  the  Western  Republic, 
and  I  have  heard  many  old  travellers  say  that 
there  is  more  true  politeness,  although  less  grimace, 
among  the  working  classes  in  England,  than  among 
the  so-called  gentlemen,  in  countries  where  true 
religion  has  not  softened  the  intercourse  of  men, 
where  woman  never  has  been  respected,  and  where 
little  is  known  of  a  cheerful,  virtuous,  happy 
home. 

Yet,  I  did  expect  to  find  more  nobility  of  man- 
ners in  Spain.  The  Castilian  peasant  may  be  a 
highminded  being,  but  no  country  can  prosper 
with  such  an  ignorant  and  degraded  higher  class. 
With  nothing  in  which  to  take  an  interest,  ener- 
vated by  climate,  indolent  from  temperament,  the 
hidalgo  \\Taps  his  cloak  around  him,  touches  his 


188 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


guitar,  and  indulges  in  every  pleasure  which  re- 
quires neither  exertion  nor  mind.  In  ^Madrid, 
indications  of  general  profligacy  amongst  the  upper 
ranks,  of  a  very  unmistakcable  nature,  everywhere 
meet  the  eye;  indeed,  it  may  be  fairly  questioned  if 
there  exists  in  Europe  a  race  so  debased  as  the 
aristocracy  of  Spain.  The  palace  sets  the  example, 
its  visitors  imitate ;  can  we  therefore  wonder  if  the 
lower  classes  are  becoming  more  addicted  to  vice  ? 
Men  usually  follow  the  pattern  of  their  superiors, 
and  after  what  has  transpired  in  the  most  exalted 
circle,  what  can  we  expect  of  peasants  and  mule- 
teers ?  This  subject,  although  delicate,  must 
not  be  overlooked ;  for  where  moral  character  is 
awanting,  energy,  industry,  and  national  improve- 
ment will  be  looked  for  in  vain:  "Righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation;  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 
people;"  so  says  the  Wise  Man,  and  history  well 
bears  out  the  truth  of  his  maxim.* 

In    every    truly    great    country    morality  and 

•  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  Life  of  Napoleon,  justly  obsen'es, 
that  "  Patriotism  has  always  been  found  to  flourish  m  that  state 
of  society  which  is  most  favourable  to  the  stern  and  manly 
virtues  of  self-denial,  temperance,  chastity,  contempt  of  luxur}-, 
and  patient  exertion ;  and  the  public  spirit  of  a  nation  haa 
invariably  borne  a  just  proportion  to  ita  private  morals." 


NEED  OF  MORAL  REFORM. 


189 


religion  have  a  certain  hold  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people ;  but  unblushing  vice,  like  an  insidious 
disease,  undermines  the  very  foundation  of  national 
prosperity.  Spain  may  struggle  to  maintain  her 
place  among  the  powers  of  Europe,  but  the  attempt 
will  prove  hopeless,  until  greater  respect  be  paid  to 
the  laws  of  heaven.  A  moral  must  precede  a 
political  reform,  pennanently  to  raise  that  miser- 
able country  from  her  debased  position,  and  that 
moral  refomiation  must  begin  in  high  places,  in 
that  palace  whose  intrigues  have  scandalised  the 
best  friends  of  constitutional  freedom.*  "It  delights 
me  to  think,"  wrote  one  of  the  best  of  men,t  "that, 
after  all,  monarchy  is  so  congenial  to  man,  that  the 
monarch  has  simply  to  show  himself,  and  have  a 
tolerable  character,  and  he  is  sure  of  the  honest 
welcome  and  cordiality  of  air  his  subjects."  This 
sentiment  will  be  disputed  by  few  who  have 
studied  human   nature;   it  applies   more  empha- 

*  "It  well  beseemeth  that  in  princes'  hall 
That  vertue  should  be  plentifully  found, 
\\  hich  of  all  goodly  manners  is  the  ground, 
And  roote  of  civill  conversation." 

Spenser's  "  Fairie  Queene,"  book  vi. 

t  Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers's  Memoir,  vol.  ii.  p.  402. 


190 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


tically  to  nations  which  can  hoast  of  a  glorious 
history  ;  but  nothing  would  surprise  me  less  than 
to  hear  that  Spain  had  proclaimed  a  republic. 

We  started  from  Granada  at  twelve  o'clock,  on 
a  fine  clear  day,  in  a  diligence  drawTi  by  five 
horses  and  four  mules,  and  for  the  first  few  miles, 
tlie  road  being  good,  we  galloped  along  at  a 
famous  pace,  animated  by  the  shouts  of  the  driver 
as  he  lashed  his  team.  When  clouds  do  not  ob- 
scure its  summits,  the  8ien*a  Nevada  has  a  most 
imposing  appearance  from  the  plain.  We  were 
fortunate  enough  to  see  distinctly,  and  for  several 
hours,  the  w^hole  range  as  far  eastward  as  the 
rounded  top  of  Mulahacen,  twelve  thousand  seven 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  But  Yeleta,  which 
more  immediately  rises  above  Granada,  being  of  a 
more  conical  form,  appears  higher,  though  in  reality 
lower  than  its  giant  neighbour.  The  road  to 
Madrid  passes  through  the  well-cultivated  and  irri- 
gated Vega.  Several  aqueducts  conveying  water 
from  the  heights  cross  it,  and  on  both  sides,  for  a 
long  distance,  you  see  nothing  but  gardens  of  fig- 
trees,  oranges,  vines,  melons,  olives,  nuts,  vegetables, 
and  Indian  corn. 


INNS   IN   SPAIN. 


191 


On  leaving  this  fertile  plain  the  highway  becomes 
worse,  and  continues  bad  all  the  w^ay  to  the  capital, 
excepting  for  a  few  miles  near  Cardenas,  where  it 
crosses  the  hills  between  Andalucia  and  La  Mancha. 
Although  the  traffic  on  it,  especially  after  it  joins 
the  road  to  Cadiz  and  Seville,  has  for  a  long  time 
been  great,  it  is  full  of  ruts,  and  in  many  places 
very  stony.  Sometimes  the  jolting  became  quite 
painful;  in  vain  w^e  attempted  to  hold  on,  for  every 
moment  it  appeared  as  if  the  vehicle  were  about  to 
be  turned  topsy-turvy. 

Ascending  from  the  Vega  of  Granada,  we 
first  traversed  a  corn  country,  bare  of  trees,  and 
then  a  forest  of  evergreen  oaks,  the  pasture-ground 
of  pigs  innumerable.  The  road  further  on  winds 
in  a  series  of  zigzags  up  the  Sierra  Susana,  from 
the  top  of  which  an  extensive  prospect  of  rocky 
hills  and  treeless  plains  presents  itself.  I  walked 
on  before  the  diligence  to  w^atch  the  peasants  riding 
up  and  down  the  hill  on  their  mules  and  horses, 
wrapped  in  their  cloaks,  and  attired  in  all  the  trap- 
pings of  Spanish  finery.  Most  of  the  men  were 
tall,  handsome,  and  quite  as  fierce-looking  as  tra- 
vellers represent  banditti.     At  the  poor  village  of 


192 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


Campillo  the  passengers  stopped  to  sup.  The 
kitchens  of  coiintry-inns  in  Spain  fonn  a  sort  of 
lobbies  near  the  entrance-door,  without  any  par- 
tition or  barrier  between  them  and  the  mules  in 
the  court-yard,  or  the  people  walking  past.  The 
great  gate  of  the  dwelling  stands  open,  and  who- 
ever enters  find  himself  in  the  presence  of  the  cook. 
The  poorer  houses  of  entertainment — consisting 
generally  of  one  long  room,  with  men  at  one  end, 
and  mules,  pigs,  and  poultry  at  the  other,  are  called 
Yentas;  the  second  class,  which  boast  of  a  few 
apartments  on  the  second  floor,  having  doors  and 
locks,  they  denominate  Posadas  or  Paradors ; 
while  the  term  Fonda  is  regarded  as  synonymous 
with  hotel. 

About  an  hour  and  a  half  elapsed  before  the  con- 
ductor announced  his  determination  to  start.  When 
I  awoke  from  my  first  slumber,  we  were  passing 
l3etween  the  picturesque  rocks  forming  the  gorge 
called  Puerto  de  Arenas,  two  formidable-looking 
gens-d'annes  standing  on  the  step  of  the  vehicle, 
to  scare  the  robbers  of  that  dreary  locality.  Then 
we  passed  the  town  of  Jaen,  capital  of  a  small 
kingdom   under   the   Moors.     Here   I   again   fell 


BAILEN. 


193 


asleep,  to  be  roused  by  a  total  change,  or  rather 
an  absence  of  motion.  Where  could  we  be?  What 
could  have  happened?  I  opened  the  door,  and 
leaped  out.  The  rain  poured  in  torrents ;  the  wind 
whistled  mournfully  through  the  apertures  in  the 
insufficient  framework;  and  neither  horse,  mule, 
driver,  postilion,  nor  conductor  was  to  be  seen. 
We  had  apparently  stuck  fast  in  the  mud,  in  the 
midst  of  a  howling  wilderness ;  but  the  Spanish 
passengers,  apparently  quite  accustomed  to  such 
incidents,  laughed  and  chatted  as  if  they  had  been 
progressing  with  great  celerity  towards  the  capital. 
Two  weary  hours  passed  away  before  men  and 
mules  came  to  extricate  us,  and  conduct  the  pon- 
derous vehicle  across  the  Guadalquiver  stream  and 
valley. 

Daylight  found  our  party  at  the  miserable 
village  of  Bailen,  where  the  roads  from  Madrid  to 
Seville  and  Granada  join,  and  where,  in  1808,  the 
Spaniards,  led  by  Castanos,  actually  defeated  tlie 
French  under  Dupont.  Of  course,  the  army  of  the 
latter  had  been  previously  thoroughly  demoralized, 
else  an  event  so  extraordinary  could  never  have 

occurred, 

VOL.  I.  K 


194 


THE   TAGUS  AND   TUE  TIBER. 


LA  CAROLINA. 


195 


The  road  between  this  place  and  La  Carolina  is 
execrable,  and  bruises  of  all  kinds  must  be  endured 
by  the  hapless  travellers.  For  five  hours  we  passed 
through  continuous  plantations  of  olive-trees.  As 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  on  hills  and  in  valleys, 
nothing  could  be  seen  but  rows  of  green  or  silvery 
leaves ;  for,  as  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  the  great  ruler 
of  Florence,  expresses  it  in  one  of  his  sonnets — 

"  L'uliva,  in  qualche  dolce  piaggia  apnea 
Secondo  il  vento  par,  or  verde,  or  bianca." 

The  prettily  situated  village  of  La  Carolina  was 
founded  in  1767,  by  a  colony  of  Swiss  and  Ger- 
mans, who  all  died  of  vexation  and  disappointment 
on  account  of  the  treatment  they  experienced  from 
those  who  had  induced  them  to  emigrate. 

Here  it  was  discovered  that  our  diligence  had 
been  seriously  injured,  a  threatening  crack  being 
visible  above  the  front  springs,  and  extending 
nearly  across  the  vehicle.  So  the  conductor  lighted 
his  cigar  and  examined  the  damage,  then  lighted 
another  one,  preparatory  to  explaining  to  the  by- 
standers what  had  happened.  In  about  an  hour 
he  sent  for  a  carpenter.  He  came,  tools  in  hand; 
not,  however,  immediately  to  repair  the  carriage, 


\ 


but  to  smoke  his  cigar  and  have  a  chat  with  the 
conductor.  Ropes  being  required,  a  boy  was  sent 
to  bring  them ;  of  course,  he  brought  too  few ;  so 
t^ie  authorities  again  consulted,  produced  once 
more  the  fragrant  weed,  and  resolved  to  send  back 
the  lad.  Three  precious  hours  elapsed  before  the 
crack  and  a  broken  seat  were  repaired,  but  the 
passengers  seemed  from  the  beginning  instinctively 
to  have  known  that  all  this  must  needs  happen.  No 
one  asked  when  we  should  start ;  no  one  appeared 
in  the  least  desirous  of  proceeding  on  his  journey. 
Without  inquiring  as  to  the  cause  of  the  stoppage, 
as  soon  as  the  vehicle  came  to  a  halt,  they  all  dis- 
persed to  buy  bread,  grapes,  or  w^hatever  else  in 
the  shape  of  eatables  the  village  afforded;  then 
aasembled  in  a  shop  to  smoke  and  gossip,  until  the 
mules  appeared,  when  they  resumed  their  seats 
wHith  the  greatest  sangfroid  imaginable. 

In  this  poor  place  we  with  difficulty  procured  a 
little  bread  and  three  hard-boiled  eggs  on  which  to 
make  a  scanty  breakfast.  Our  road  now  lay  over 
the  Sien-a  which  separates  Andalucia  from  La 
Mancha,  a  series  of  uninhabited  hills  covered  with 
brushwood  and  arbutus  shrubs.     Some  well-exe- 

k2 


196 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


cuted  zigzags  brought  us  to  the  gorge  of  Despeiia 
Perros,  a  grand  defile  between  tremendous  rocks, 
somewhat  resembling  the  Via  Mala  in  Switzerland. 
It  forms  a  natural  defence  to  Andalucia ;  five  hun- 
dred men  might  defend  it  against  an  army ;  and 
indeed  the  Duke  of  Wellington  at  one  time  thought 
of  making  it  a  Toitcs  Yedras.  The  road  winds  round 
lofty  cliffs  and  overhangs  terrible  precipices,  at 
every  turn  unfolding  new  views  of  the  lonely  pass. 

La  Mancha  is  a  poor  and  uninteresting  province, 
destitute  of  trees  and  scenery,  reminding  me  of 
Dr.  Johnson's  exclamation  in  regard  to  Mull, 
*'  Oh,  sir,  it  is  a  most  dolorous  country."  The 
people  look  WTctched  and  dress  in  rags ;  in  their 
dwellings  glass  seems  an  unknown  luxury,  and  of 
cleanliness  they  know  nothing.  The  rich  soil  pro- 
duces both  com  and  wine ;  but  water  is  extremely 
scarce,  and  shade  does  not  exist. 

At  the  Venta  of  Cardenas,  celebrated  in  Don 
Quixote,  we  changed  mules.  Cervantes  has  im- 
mortalized the  neighbouring  Sierra,  as  the  scene, 
where  performed  penance. 


"  The  gentle  knight,  La  Mancha'a  glory, 
Famed  in  never-dying  story." 


DON  QUIXOTE. 


197 


Here  another  accident  befel  us ;  one  of  the  fore- 
wheels  had  become  so  hot  from  the  friction,  that 
cold  water  poured  upon  it  hissed  as  if  it  liad  been 
cast  into  the  fire.  Instead  of  remedying  this  at  once 
and  thoroughly,  the  conductor  adopted  some  tem- 
porary expedient  every  stage,  until  in  the  morning 
it  would  no  longer  run,  and  he  was  forced  to 
have  it  taken  oif,  cooled,  and  properly  repaired, 
on  account  of  which  we  suffered  an  hour's  de- 
tention. 

We  had  a  very  tolerable  supper  at  Yaldepcnas, 
celebrated  for  its^  red  wine,  produced  from  vines 
imported  from  Burgundy.  The  Bodegas,  or  wine 
stores,  occupy  a  large  part  of  the  town.  During 
our  meal,  we  were  entertained  with  music  and  sing- 
ing, the  latter  by  no  means  melodious. 

Passing  through  Manzanares  during  the  night, 
we  breakfasted  next  morning  at  Puerto  Lapiche, 
where  Don  Quixote  told  Sancho  that  they  might 
get  "  elbow  deep  in  adventures.*'  The  peasantry 
here  are  in  obvious  misery;  they  hover  round 
their  mud  dwellings  dressed  in  tattered  clothes  and 
hempen  shoes,  the  images  of  discomfort  and  sad- 
ness.     Nothing   can  be   more   desolate  than  the 


198 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


ABSENCE  OF  TREES. 


199 


appearance  of  the  country  :  not  that  it  is  a  waste ; 
for  the  soil  is  excellent,  and  might  produce  large 
crops ;  but  not  a  tree  occurs  for  miles — not  even  a 
hedge  or  a  wall.  You  see  a  vast  flat  plain  bounded 
by  stony  hills  with  windmills  on  their  tops.  These, 
being  smaller  than  ours,  the  knight  might  be  ex- 
cused for  supposing  them  to  be  giants. 

Most  people  imagine  that  Spain  is  a  beautiful 
land,  with  luxuriant  foliage,  meandering  streams, 
and  mountains  clothed  watli  vegetation ;  they  be- 
lieve it  a  region  of  cascades,  rich  landscapes,  and 
singing  birds,  like  lovely  Italy.  How  surprised 
would  they  be  to  behold  bare  stem  hills,  and 
boundless  plains,  treeless  as  those  of  Africa,  and 
silent  as  the  desert  around  the  mount  of  God. 
No  streams  water  flowery  meadows,  or  refresh 
bowers  of  roses  which  vines  overhang ;  no  groves 
enliven  the  dreary  fields  or  afford  a  refuge  for  the 
little  choristers,  whose  notes  cheer  the  leaden  skies 
of  England;  but  naked  plains,  grim  rocks  and 
trains  of  mules  remind  one  of  the  trackless  ocean. 
To  Castile  and  La  Mancha  may  be  applied  Dr. 
Johnson's  description  of  Brighthelmstone  Downs: 
"  It  is  a  country  so  desolate  that  if  one  had  a  mind 


1. 


to  hang  oneself  for  desperation  at  being  obliged  to 
live  there,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  tree  on 
which  to  fasten  a  rope."* 

As  we  passed,  the  peasants  were  ploughing,  or 
rather  scraping,  the  soil  with  a  stick,  and  sowing 
grain.  So  lazy  are  they,  that  in  many  fields  bushes 
which  one  might  uproot  with  one's  hand  remain  in 
the  soil,  while  the  Manchegans  plough  round 
them. 

Near  the  town  of  Madridejos,  a  few  fields 
of  olives  and  vineyards  relieve  the  monotony  of 
the  plain;  I  observed  also  several  wells  with 
wheels  and  buckets  for  the  purposes  of  irrigation. 
Three  frightfully  wearisome  stages  occur  after 
leaving  this  place.  No  living  thing  did  we  see 
but  a  few  black  sheep;  not  even  a  bush  varied 
the  expanse  of  burnt-up  stubble.  Tempeque,  where 
we  changed  mules,  is  certainly  the  most  wretched 
village  I  have  ever  seen ;  it  remains  very  nearly 
in  the  same  state  as  that  in  which  the  French  left 
it,  after  sacking  and  burning  it  in  1809. 

The  next  town,  La  Guardia,  also  continues  in 
ruins.     Instead  of  re-building  their  houses  after 

♦  Croker's  edition  of  Boswell's  Life,  p.  145. 


200 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


the  departure  of  the  spoilers,  the  people  have 
burrowed  in  the  rock  on  which  the  place  is  built, 
and  from  these  caves  they  rush  out,  like  creatures 
belonging  to  a  lower  world,  to  beg  from  the  pas- 
sengers in  the  diligence.  And  here  one  word 
as  to  the  mendicants  of  Spain.  Wherever  we 
journeyed  they  infested  us.  Old  men  and  youths, 
crones  and  maidens,  bright-eyed  children  of  every 
age,  both  in  the  towns  and  countr}^,  resolutely 
beset  our  path ;  undaunted  by  refusals,  however 
gruffly  given,  they  continued  to  elbow  and  push 
us  as  if  w^e  had  been  their  debtors.  Several  lads 
left  their  work  to  run  after  us  and  clamour  for 
alms,  and  well-dressed  women,  sitting  on  their 
doorsteps,  encouraged  their  daughters  to  assail  us, 
like  keepers  unloosing  greyhounds  to  dart  after 
the  prey. 

Begging  seemed  to  be  considered  a  calling  any- 
thing but  dishonourable,  even  by  well-dressed 
people ;  a  crowd  of  mendicants  surrounded  every 
coach-office,  and  the  door  of  every  inn.  Surely 
they  must  meet  with  greater  encouragement  than 
their  brethren  of  the  north,  else  they  would  not  be 
either   so   numerous   or   so   pertinacious.      When 


ACCIDENTS. 


201 


Murillo  painted,  monks,  mendicants,  and  black- 
eyed  women  seem  to  have  been  the  sole  inhabitants 
of  Spain. 

At  09ana,  where  Soult  totally  defeated  the 
Spanish  army  in  1809,  and  where  the  roads  from 
Valencia,  Murcia,  and  Andalucia  meet,  we  supped 
in  a  neat  upper  room  of  the  Parador.  We  had 
scarcely  started  from  this  place  when  accident 
No.  4  befel  us.  Strange  oscillations  on  the  part  of 
the  vehicle  led  the  driver  to  conjecture  that  some- 
thing was  wrong,  and  on  stoppings  he  discovered 
that  one  of  the  springs  had  snapped  asunder.  So 
out  came  the  conductor's  formidable  tool-box, 
cigars  were  lighted,  and  the  repairs  commenced, 
not  one  of  the  Spanish  passengers  meanwhile 
inquiring  the  cause  of  the  detention,  or  making 
any  remark  on  the  subject.  I  almost  wished  that 
accident  No.  5  might  prove  an  overset,  just  to 
see  if  it  would  discompose  these  imperturbable 
worthies.  Fortunately,  daylight  was  rapidly  de- 
parting, so  the  conductor  had  nothing  for  it  but  to 
work  vigorously  in  order  to  repair  the  disaster 
before  it  became  quite  dark. 

About  seven  o'clock  we  stopped  a  very  unneces- 

K  3 


202 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


sary  time  at  Araiijuez,  the  beautiful  summer  resi- 
dence of  the  Spanish  kings.  The  palace  stands  on 
the  wooded  banks  of  the  Tagus,  which,  on  leaving 
the  village,  we  crossed  by  a  handsome  suspension- 
bridge  of  iron.  In  summer,  when  the  plain  around 
:\Iadrid  has  been  burnt  up  by  the  sun,  no  wonder 
that  the  citizens  consider  these  forests  and  gardens 
as  a  sort  of  paradise.  And  yet  many  a  third-rate 
country  residence  in  England  can  boast  of  far  more 
l)eautie8  than  this  same  oveiTated  Aranjuez. 

On  a  clear  cold  moonlight  night  we  approached 
the  capital  of  Spain.  Long  and  weary  did  the 
leagues  appear  between  it  and  the  Tagus.  At 
length,  however,  we  reached  two  tall  pillars,  indi- 
cating the  way,  crossed  the  Manzanares,  and 
ascended  an  avenue  between  rows  of  young  trees, 
to  the  gate  of  the  royal  city. 

At  a  quarter  past  one  in  the  morning,  the 
diligence  stopped  at  the  office  in  the  street  of 
Alcala,  just  six  hours  behind  time.  This,  we 
afterwards  learned,  is  no  unusual  occurrence  with 
the  coaches  of  the  "  Empresa  Navarra,"  or  New 
Diligence  Company  of  Spain.  Imagine  our  in- 
dignant   astonishment    when    the    custom-house 


ARRIVAL   AT   MADRID. 


203 


officials  declined  either  to  examine  any  of  our 
^^gg^gCj  ^^  to  permit  us  to  take  with  us  out  of  the 
bureau  even  a  bag. 

"  We  might  have  our  luggage  at  breakfast  time, 
but  not  sooner,"  they  replied  to  all  our  remon- 
strances, and  yet  several  officers  were  in  attendance. 
They  could  smoke,  chat,  gossip,  and  sneer;  but 
condescend  to  look  at  trunks  they  would  not.  A 
curious  kind  of  freedom  that,  which,  under  the 
name  of  constitutionalism,  vexes  and  annoys  every 
one  but  the  intriguer  and  the  placeman. 

There  being  no  hotel  in  Madrid,  we  had  written 
from  Granada  for  apartments  in  the  excellent 
boarding-house  kept  by  Mr.  Purklss.  Supposing 
that  our  diligence  had  broken  down,  he,  after 
waiting  a  long  time  for  its  arrival,  had  left  the 
office  and  gone  to  bed.  A  porter  led  us  along  the 
silent  streets  to  23,  Calle  Caballero  de  Gracia, 
which,  by  the  assistance  of  a  watchman,  we  found, 
and  after  violent  rapping,  awakened  Mr.  P. 
who,  to  our  dismay,  informed  us  that  his  house 
was  quite  full.  He,  however,  accompanied  us, 
notwithstanding  the  untimely  hour,  (between  two 


204 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


and  three  in  tlie  morning,)  to  the  little  Spanish 
Fonda  of  St.  Luis,  situated  in  the  Calle  de  la 
Montera,  the  most  bustling  street  in  tlie  capital. 
The  sun  had  nearly  reached  its  meridian  before  we 
awakened  from  the  sound  slumbers  induced  by  a 
drive  of  sixty-two  hours  in  a  rough  diligence,  and 
sauntered  down  the  street  to  take  a  first  luuk  at 
the  celebrated  Puerto  del  Sol. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


SITUATION  OF  MADRID— ITS  BUILDINGS  AND  SHOPS— PROVINCE 
OP  CATALONIA— THE  CHAPEL  ROYAL— OFFICIATING  PRIESTS- 
SCENE  ON  THE  PRADO— THE  QUEEN— HER  PERSONAL  APPEAR- 
ANCE—ROMAN CATHOLICISM  IN  SPAIN  —  IRRELIGION  IN  THE 
COUNTRY  —  PROGRESS  FROM  SUPERSTITION  TO  INFIDEUTY — 
POWER  OF  THE  PAPACY— CONTRAST  BETWEEN  PROTESTANT  AND 
ROMAN   CATHOLIC   NATIONS. 

Madrid  stands   on  elevated  and  uneven  ground 
overlooking   the   river   Manzanares.      It    is    sur- 
rounded   by   mud  walls,   with    rather    imposing 
gateways.      Near    the    centre   of  the    city,   and 
in   front   of  the  vast  Post   Office,  is  the  Puerto 
del  Sol,  an  open  space,  from  which   diverge   tlie 
leading  thoroughfares  of  the  capital.     The  Calle 
de  la  Montera,  where  we  lived,  leads  northward 
in   the   direction   of  the   Burgos  road,  the  Calle 
Mayor  westwards  to  the  Palace,  and  the  Calle  de 
Alcala  in  an  easterly  direction. 


■■■•* 


203 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


MADRID. 


207 


The  last  is,  perhaps,  the  finest  street  in  Europe, 
being  broad,  adorned  with  rows  of  acacia-trees,  and 
built  across  a  gentle  acclivity.  The  inequality  both 
in  appearance  and  height  of  the  houses  on  eacri 
side  detracts,  however,  from  its  elegance.  At  the 
further  end  of  this  highway,  you  come  to  the 
Prado,  a  wide  walk  and  drive,  with  trees  planted 
along  it,  extending  a  mile  southward.  Beyond  it, 
and  covering  a  large  extent  of  ground,  are  the 
Buen  Retiro  gardens,  which  no  one  can  fail  to 
admire.  Tastefully  laid  out,  and  diversified  with 
flower  walks,  wooded  groves,  fountains,  parks,  and 
promenades,  they  afford  a  delightful  retreat  to  the 
population  of  the  city.  A  large  part  of  this 
pleasure-ground  has  only  recently  been  opened. 
A  handsome  arch  close  to  the  Bull  Ring  terminates 
the  Street  of  Alcala  in  this  direction.  From  it 
another  public  walk  leads  northward  to  the  Puerto 
de  los  Recoletos. 

Following  the  Calle  ]\Iayor  to  the  suburb  directly 
opposite  to  the  Prado,  wx  arrive  at  the  Royal 
Palace,  a  very  extensive  and  rather  handsome 
edifice,  on  an  elevation  commanding  a  view  of  the 
plain  and  Guadarama  mountains.     A  wide  espla- 


nade in  front  separates  it  from  the  Armoury.  It 
faces  the  south,  and  on  the  east  looks  into  a 
crescent,  where  stand  the  new  theatre,  and  a  fine 
bronze  statue  of  Philip  IV.  on  horseback.  This 
garden  has  been  disfigured  by  an  array  of  frightful 
stucco  figures  of  Spanish  notables.  Towards  the 
west  the  palace  windows  look  across  the  Manza- 
nares  to  the  Casa  del  Campo,  with  its  woods, 
pleasure-grounds,  and  little  lake.  This  is  the 
hmiting-seat  of  royalty,  the  district  beyond  it  being 
plentifully  stocked  w^ith  game. 

Excepting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Prado  and 
regal  dwelling,  the  houses  of  the  poor  stand  near 
the  walls,  while  the  mansions  of  the  nobility  and 
consulates  occupy  very  imsuitable  situations  in  the 
interior  of  the  city.  Few  of  the  streets  are  either 
handsome  or  curious.  Around  the  Plaza  de  la 
Constitucion  you  find  arcades,  with  innumerable 
tailors'  and  clothiers'  shops,  which,  during  our 
sojourn,  the  w^eather  being  cold,  were  filled  w4th 
people  buying  winter  garments. 

The  shopkeepers  in  Madrid,  like  those  in  the 
East,  are  the  most  indifierent  people  in  the  world. 
They  do  not  seem  to  care  whether  you  buy  anything 


208 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


CATALONIA. 


209 


or  not,  and  consider  it  rather  a  trouble  to  serve  you. 
I  \va3  forcibly  reminded  on  several  occasions  of  the 
cross-legged  bearded  old  cheats,  who  tried  so  per- 
severingly  to  get  the  better  of  me  in  the  bazaars 
of  Constantinople.  The  excessive  paucity  of  their 
valuables,  however,  makes  this  sauciness  less 
annoying ;  generally  speaking,  the  warerooms  are 
miserably  supplied.  Frenchmen  and  Germans 
keep  the  best  shops. 

Although    the     import    duty   on    carriages    is 
70Z.    each,     nearly   all-  those  used  by  the  higher 
classes  have  been  brought  from  Paris  or  London ; 
a    sad     illustration     of    that  want  of    industrial 
energy,  which  appears,  year  after  year,  to   take 
more  complete  possession  of    Spain.     While   all 
other  European  nations  are  striving  to  excel  in  the 
arts  and  sciences, — while  they  are  making  railroads, 
building  gigantic   steamers,  laying  electric   wires 
over  mountains  and  under  seas,— seeking,  in  fact, 
by  every  possible  means,  to  annihilate  both  time 
and  distance,  to  economise  labour,  and  add  to  the 
comforts    of  man,  the    Spaniard  rides   his   mule, 
wraps  himself  in  his  cloak,  lights  his  cigarrito,  and 
contentedly  remains  in  the  same  position  as  that 


in  which  Charles  V.  left  him  three  liundred  years 
ago.  If  the  Catalans  form  an  exception  to  this 
rule  of  ignorance  and  indolence,  their  example  only 
renders  more  lamentable  the  state  of  the  other 
provinces. 

Flourishing  manufactories,  and  more  than  a 
thousand  common  schools,  have  given  an  impulse 
to  Catalonia,  not  shared  in  by  the  nation  in  general ; 
but  even  yet  you  may  see  the  proud  Castilian 
walking  along  the  streets  of  Barcelona  with  an  air 
of  conscious  superiority  which  might  provoke  a 
smile,  did  not  the  sight  recal  to  one's  mind  the 
history  and  destinies  of  that  once  mighty  people, 
whose  chivalry  checked  the  Saracenic  conquests, 
whose  princes  ruled  on  the  Danube  and  the  Scheldt, 
and  whose  mariners  braved  the  tempests  of  an 
unknown  sea  to  plant  the  colours  of  Castile  on 
Tenochtitlan's  towers. 

All  day  long  a  crowd  of  idle  gossips,  wrapped 
in  their  cloaks  and  smoking  their  cigarritos,  lounge 
about  the  comer  of  the  Calle  de  la  Montera  and 
Puerto  del  Sol.  Neither  the  men  nor  the  women 
in  Madrid  are  so  graceful  and  good-looking  as  the 
Andalucians.     An  excessive  dandyism  renders  the 


^MMii«Hpp««VMi«-ii^'^V" 


210  THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 

youths    of    the   better    classes    truly  ridiculous. 
Their  leading  object  in  life  seems  to  be  to  have 
fashionably  shaped  clothes,  and  mustachios   like 
twisted  whip-cord,  in  order  to  set  off  to  the  greatest 
advantage  their  diminutive  persons.   All  the  streets 
may  be  said  to  be  well  paved  and  kept  in  good 
order,   with  excellent    foot-paths    and   crossings. 
Soldiers  guard  every  public  building,  an  evident 
sign   of  the  want  both  of   security  and  of  that 
orderly  freedom  which  abhors  such  military  sur- 
veillance.   What  feelings  would  arise  in  English 
minds  were  troops  placed  at  the  gates  of  all  our 
banks,  post-offices,  museums,  and  libraries,  were 
passports  demanded  on  entering  every  city,  and 
elections   controlled  by  general  officers  greedy  of 

power ! 

The  stranger  visiting  Spanish  iovms  must  have 
observed  curious  little  pigeon  holes,  more  like 
vnne  cellars  than  shops,  entering  directly  from  the 
streets.  These  are  the  lawyers'  offices.  Behind 
a  little  desk  sits  the  notary,  his  papers  arranged  in 
shelves  round  the  walls  of  his  square  box.  These 
escribanos,  of  course,  occupy  localities  near  the 
Courts  of  Justice.     Mr.  Paget,  in  his   admirable 


CAMPO  SANTOS. 


211 


work  on  Hungary  and  Transylvania,*  remarks — 
"  I  have  often  thought  that  a  glance  at  the  book- 
sellers' shops  gives  a  more  correct  idea  of  the  state 
of  education  in  a  country  than  the  most  profound 
disquisitions  on  its  schools  and  universities.'' 
I  fear  that  such  a  test, — and  a  very  sensible  one  it 
is, — if  applied  to  the  cities  of  Spain,  would  produce 
in  the  traveller's  mind  an  unfavourable  estimate  of 
the  instruction  afforded  to  the  population.  They 
are  few  and  far  between ;  even  those  which,  after 
a  long  search,  you  do  find,  scarcely  deserve  the 
appellation,  and  perhaps  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  know  of  their  existence. 

The  city  has  two  large  Campo  Santos,  or  bury- 
ing grounds,  both  on  the  other  side  of  the  Man- 
zanares  river.  It  contains  considerably  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  people,  and  being  subject  to 
sudden  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  from  its  situation, 
without  any  shelter  from  the  sun,  and  yet  twenty- 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  it  enjoys  an 
unenviable  sanitary  reputation.  Charles  V.  fixed 
there  the  seat  of  government,  because  the  climate 
agreed  with  his  diseased  frame ;  but  he  committed 

•  Vol.  i.  p,  23. 


212 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


OBESITY   OF   PRIESTS. 


213 


a  notable  mistake,  for  the  site  has  not  a  single 
advantage,  excepting  that  of  being  central ;  indeed 
former  kings,  both  Moorish  and  Christian,  never 
could  be  induced  permanently  to  reside  in  the  city. 

^lules  may  be  very  well  suited  to  travelling  over 
mountains,  where  the  bed  of  the  winter-torrent 
forms  the  only  road,  but  I  cannot  admire  them  in 
harness,  particularly  when  the  carriage  has  any 
pretensions  to  elegance.  Surely  the  Queen  of 
Spain  might  provide  her  attendants  with  horses. 
Yet  the  first  time  I  saw  the  royal  cortege,  her  coach 
was  followed  by  three  others,  each  drawn  by  six 
long-eared  animals,  which  certainly  looked  some- 
what contemptible  beside  the  prancing  steeds  of 

Castile. 

Next  day  was  Sunday.  We  went  in  the  morn- 
ing to  the  Chapel  Royal  in  the  palace,  where  the 
Queen's  consort,  his  brother,  and  two  sisters  attended 
service.  The  king  is  a  plain-looking  man,  with  a 
stupid  and  careworn  countenance ;  but  he  appeared 
a  giant  and  a  beauty  in  comparison  with  his 
relations,  the  most  dwarfish  and  ugliest  trio  I  have 
ever  seen  out  of  the  slave  states  of  America.  A 
long  line  of  priests  in  purj)le  robes  occupied  the 


centre  of  the  chapel,  every  one  of  them  so  corpu- 
lent as  to  merit  Sir  John  Falstaff 's  description  of 
himself,  "  a  man  of  continual  dissolution  and 
thaw,  it  was  a  miracle  to  escape  suffocation." 

How  I  wished  that  those  good  people  in  Eng- 
land who  will  not  believe  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergy  abroad  generally  manifest  so  decided  a 
tendency  to  obesity,  could  have  seen  these  men, 
all  of  them  much  stouter  than  any  layman  whom 
I  had  met  in  Spain.  Their  plump  cheeks  and 
bulky  bodies  bore  testimony  to  living  of  the  most 
sumptuous  kind.  They  reminded  me  of  the  story 
which  Longfellow  tells  in  Hyperion,  of  ''the  watcli- 
man's  wife  in  the  tower  of  Waiblingen,  who  grew 
to  such  a  size  that  she  could  not  get  down  the 
narrow  staircase,  and  when  her  husband  died,  his 
successor  was  forced  to  marry  the  widow  in  her 
prison.'*  Perhaps  the  royal  pair  have  an  object  in 
patronising  well-fed  men,  agreeing  in  the  sentiment 
expressed  by  Julius  Csesar — 

"  Let  me  have  men  about  me  that  are  fat ; 
Sleek-headed  men,  and  such  as  sleep  o' nights  : 
Yond  Cassius  has  a  lean  and  hungry  look  ; 
He  thinks  too  much ;  such  men  are  dangerous."  * 


•  "Julius  Caesar,"  Act  I.  Scene  2. 


214 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


All  the  shops  in  Madrid  are  open  on  Sunday, 
and  business  goes  on  as  on  other  days,  excepting 
that  A  FEW  people  go  to  mass  in  the  morning, 
and  A  GREAT  MANY  to  the  Prado,  public  walks, 
and  coffee-houses  in  the  evening.  About  three 
o'clock  several  tradesmen  shut  their  doors,  in  order 
to  enjoy  themselves  for  the  remainder  of  the 
afternoon. 

Our  windows  looked  into  the  Calle  de  la  Mon- 
tera,  which  after  twelve  o'clock  was  crowded  with 
carriages,  horsemen,  and  foot-passengers.  First 
came  a  group  of  Frenchified  dandies  with  silk 
hats,  fashionably-shaped  coats,  pale  gloves,  and 
curled  moustachios,  followed  by  provincials  in  the 
national  jacket  and  sombrero,  by  peasants  with 
their  leathern  gaiters,  and  shopkeepers  TVTapped  in 
cloaks  of  glossy  cloth.  Ladies,  too,  dressed  in  lace 
mantillas,  or  with  Parisian  bonnets,  glided  past, 
looking  at  whom,  we  had  almost  forgotten  to  ob- 
serve the  Castilian  steeds,  preceding  half-naked 
boys  on  donkeys,  troops  of  soldiers,  unwieldy  car- 
riages and  wagons  drawn  by  trains  of  mules. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Prado  presented  an  ani- 
mated appearance,  being  filled  with  pedestrians  of 


T*        'J 


\ 


SCENE  ON  THE  PRADO. 


215 


fashion,  and  equipages  belonging  to  the  wealthier 
classes,  but  by  no  means  handsome.  Among  the 
thousands  on  the  promenade,  I  did  not  see  one 
pretty  woman,  and  very  few  fine-looking  men. 
The  nurses,  who  all  come  from  the  Biscayan 
provinces,  and  a  number  of  whom  were  walking 
with  their  youthful  charges,  wear  a  sort  of  livery, 
varying  according  to  the  taste  of  their  mistresses, 
and  consisting,  besides  bright  dresses,  of  parti- 
coloured kerchiefs  wrapped  round  their  heads  in- 
stead of  mantillas  or  bonnets. 

About  five  o'clock  tlie  Queen,  attended  by  the 
Marchioness  of  Santa  Cruz,  drove  slowly  down  the 
Prado,  in  an  open  carriage  drawn  by  six  cream- 
coloured  horses.  I  at  first  felt  convinced  that  it 
was  Christina,  and  not  Isabella,  for  although  only 
nineteen  years  of  age,  she  looks  nearly  forty. 
Neither  in  face  nor  figure  does  she  appear  yoimg, 
and  had  not  others  told  me  to  expect  a  middle-aged 
woman,  not  a  girl,  I  should  not  have  believed  the 
evidence  of  my  ow^n  senses. 

As  the  sun  declined,  and  its  last  lingering  rays 
shone  upon  the  gay  company  moving  along  the 
Prado  and  Calle  de  Alcala,  they  produced  a  very 


216 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


pleasing  effect:  naturally,  I  mean  ;  for,  in  a  moral 
and  religious  point  of  view,  how  low  tlie  condition 
of  that  amusement-seeking  throng  ! 

As  the  arts  declined,  and  the  political  greatness 
of  the  nation  waned,  Christianity  seemed  to  become 
less  and  less  the  religion  of  Spain;  even  that 
corrupt  form  of  it  which  centres  in  Rome  began  to 
lose  its  energy.  Perhaps,  had  tlie  Jews  and  Moors 
been  permitted  to  dwell  in  the  land,  some  degree 
of  fervour  might  have  continued  amongst  those 
who  needed  clever  preachers  and  zealous  monks  to 
preserve  them  from  adopting  the  errors  of  such 
pestilent  sects;  but  religious  indifference  now 
reigns  almost  unchallenged  in  every  province,  and 
worldly  politicians  were  lately  permitted,  without 
a  murmur,  to  confiscate  the  entire  possessions 
of  the  Church. 

A  man  might  travel  for  days  in  the  hereditary 
dominions  of  Isabella  the  Catholic,  without  dis- 
covering that  her  subjects  had  a  faith ;  undisturbed 
by  priests  or  friars,  he  might  chant  a  dirge  to  the 
memory  of  other  days  in  those  deserted  fanes 
where  once  Cardinal  Ximenez  received  homage 
from  the  proudest  vassals  of  the  Castilian  crown. 


1 

1 


SUPERSTITION. 


217 


A  few  dirty,  shabbily-clothed  clergymen  may  now 
and  then  be  seen  in  the  precincts  of  a  church ;  but 
on  Sundays  the  market-place,  even  in  villages, 
is  always  better  filled  than  the  sanctuary;  the 
butchers'  shops  have  more  visitors  than  the  con- 
fessionals. You  may  see  also  the  peasants  busy 
ploughing,  watering  or  sowing,  when  in  other 
Popish  countries  they  would  have  been  hearing 
mass. 

There  was  a  time  when  Spain  showed  herself 
by  her  superstitious  observances,  by  her  liberality 
in  providing  money  for  the  propagation  of  the 
faith,  by  her  religious  pomp  and  her  persecuting 
efforts,  to  be  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  church. 
There  the  Inquisition  did  its  deadly  work;  there 
the  Pope  had  only  to  command,  and  a  nation's 
chivalry  rushed  to  the  rescue;  there  a  monarch 
laid  aside  the  cares  of  state  "  to  conform  to  all  the 
rigour  of  monastic  austerity."*  "Such,"  says 
Dr.  Robertson,  "  was  the  superstitious  veneration 
of  tlie  Spaniards  for  the  papal  character,  that  Alva, 
though  perhaps  the  proudest  man  of  the  age,  and 
accustomed  from  his  infancy  to  a  familiar  inter- 

♦  Robertson's  "  Charles  V." 
VOL.  I.  L 


218 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


course  with  princes,  acknowledged  that  when  he 
approached  the  Pope  he  was  so  much  overawed 
that  his  voice  failed,  and  his  presence  of  mind 
forsook  him." 

I  mourn  not  over  the  decUne  of  a  childish  faith, 
supported  by  monkish  legends  among  an  ignorant 
peasantry,  not  that  the  influence  of  Rome  no  longer 
reigns  paramount  in  council,  but  that  from  super- 
stition the  Spaniards  have  fled  for  refuge  to  indif- 
ferentism,  from  the  creed  of  Loyola  to  the  creed  of 
Voltaire ! 

Perhaps  the  papal  advocate  may  feel  inclined  to 
attribute  all  the  misfortunes  of  this  fallen  country 
to  her  departure  from  the  belief  of  her  fathers,  to 
the  absence  of  that  devotion  which  marked  the 
steps  of  Las  Casas,  and  overthrew  the  toecallis  of 
Montezuma's  gods;  but  may  it  not  be  fairly 
answered,  that  infidelity  is  the  natural  consequence 
of  credulity,  and  that  men  who  believe  in  the 
healing  virtues  of  "  the  dew  that  dropped  from 
the  tomb  of  Saint  Walpurgis,"  *  are  the  men 
most  likely  to  go  to  the  opposite  extreme,  and 
deny  the  first  principles  of  the  Christian  faith  ? 

•  Ranke's  "  Popes,"  vol.  i.  p.  417. 


INFIDELITY. 


219 


Without  unduly  depreciating  the  influence  of 
those  writings  which,  emanating  from  Paris  and 
Femey,  rendered  unbelief  throughout  Europe  far 
more  daring  than  before,  one  cannot  fail  to  observe 
that  Christianity  has  suffered  less  from  the  attacks 
of  the  philosophical  school  than  from  the  relic  and 
image  worship,  the  false  miracles  and  lying  im- 
postures, sanctioned  by  the  successors  of  St.  Peter. 
If  Pope  Paul  III.  peribrmed  no  public  duty  with- 
out consulting  the  constellations ;  if  St.  Louis, 
attended  by  the  noblesse  of  France,  walked  barefoot 
on  the  road  before  Sens  to  meet  ''  the  crown  of 
thorns,"  sent  him  from  Constantinople,  as  the 
diadem  of  our  Saviour;  if  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury tens  of  thousands  made  a  pilgrimage  to  wor- 
ship the  Holy  Coat  of  Treves, — need  we  wonder 
that  the  learned,  the  logical,  and  the  acute  friends 
of  philosophy  embarked  on  the  mare  magnum  of  an 
unhallowed  scepticism  ?  * 


•  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  Life  of  Napoleon,  remarks  concern- 
ing the  middle  classes  inhabiting  the  Spanish  cities,  "  In  many 
instances  they  ha<i  acquired  good  education,  and  were  superior 
to  the  bigotry  with  which  the  ecclesiastics  endeavoured  to  in- 
spire them ;  but  mistaking  the  reverse  of  wrong  for  the  right, 
many  of  them  had  been  hurried  into  absolute  scepticism,  having 

l2 


II 


220 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


A   CONTRAST. 


221 


Neither  let  it  be  forgotten  that  in  other  countries 
the  power  of  the  Papacy  has  declined  without  pro- 
ducing such  effects  as  have  been  witnessed  in 
Spain.  "  Thus,"  says  Professor  Ranke,*  "  on  either 
side  tlie  Alps,  the  progress  of  the  age  was  in  direct 
opposition  to  ecclesiastical  ascendency.  In  Italy 
this  tendency  was  associated  with  science  and 
literature ;  in  Germany  it  arose  from  biblical 
studies,  and  a  more  profound  theology.  There  it 
was  negative  and  incredulous ;  here  it  was  positive, 
and  full  of  an  earnest  faith.  There  it  destroyed 
the  very  foundations  of  the  church ;  here  the 
desire  was  to  construct  the  edifice  anew." 

These  remarks  have  reference  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  now  we  are  able  to  compare  the  civil, 
political,  and  social  condition  of  the  countries  which 
embraced  Protestantism  with  that  of  the  countries 
which  maintained  their  allegiance  to  the  Pontiffs 
of  Rome.  And  what  a  comparison !  How  favour- 
renounced  altogether  the  ideas  of  religion,  which  better  instruc- 
tion would  have  taught  them  to  separate  from  superstition,  and 
having  adopted  in  their  extravagance  many  of  the  doctrines 
which  were  so  popular  in  France  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolution." 

♦  Ranke's  "  Popes,"  vol.  i.  p.  68. 


able  to  those  doctrines  which  the  Jesuits  rolled 
back  again  to  the  north,  from  which  they  came ! 

Let  us  take  the  respective  capitals  of  the  rival 
faiths,  and  try  if  we  cannot  deduce  a  moral,  wlien 
contemplating  on  the  one  hand  the  majestic  energy 
of  London,  on  the  otlier,  the  decrepitude  of  Rome. 
Where  Wycliffe  preached,  and  where  his  opinions 
triumphed,  we  see  civilization  in  its  grandest  forms 
— the  canal,  the  railroad,  the  manufactorv,  the 
telegraph,  the  steam-ship,  the  coal-mine,  the  Exhi- 
bition of  1851;  while  the  cupola  of  St.  Peter's 
overlooks  a  dreary  waste,  the  pasture-ground  of  wild 
horses,  the  dens  from  whence  banditti  rush  upon 
the  couriers  of  the  Pope.  Beautiful  is  Calabria,  its 
hills  yielding  the  vine,  the  fig,  and  the  olive ;  its 
valleys  waving  witli  vegetation  unknown  in  the 
north :  but  its  inhabitants  scare  the  passing 
traveller ;  for  they  are  fiercer  than  the  wolves  and 
buffaloes  which  roam  over  their  land.  Cold  and 
inhospitable  the  Romans  found  Caledonia;  there 
nature  has  bestowed  her  bounties  with  no  lavish 
hand ;  but  the  Scotch,  taught  by  John  Knox, 
wedded  to  his  precepts,  have  by  indomitable  per- 
severance, untiring  energy,  and  unconquerable  zeal, 


222 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


educated  themselves,  encouraged  manufactures  and 
commerce,  and  rendered  tlieir  country  one  of  the 
best  cultivated  portions  of  God's  earth. 

Or  contrast  Germany  with  Spain — the  fatherland 
of  Luther — with  the  kingdom  where  Loyola  saw 
the  light.  In  the  case  of  the  former  we  have 
advancement,  industrial  progress,  political  power — 
in  the  latter  we  have  feebleness,  retrogression,  and 
every  symptom  of  decline.  Sweden  has  got  rail- 
ways; Portugal  wants  a  road.  The  posts  are 
irregular  in  the  Legations,  because  robbers  stop  the 
way;  the  electric  wires  connect  Berlin  with  Lon- 
don. On  the  Mississippi  there  are  fifteen  hundred 
steamers;  the  sources  of  the  Amazon  remain  un- 
known. New  York  will  soon  be  the  second  city 
in  the  world;  Vera  Cruz  has  not  increased  since 
the  days  of  Cortez.  Protestant  America  bids  fair 
to  rule  the  Western  World;  Roman  Catholic 
America  has  become  the  prey  of  the  designing, 
and  might  do  worse  than  restore  that  dynasty  of 
the  Incas  which  Pizarro  overthrew.  Opulent 
England,  Ireland  in  rags, — the  busy  Elbe,  and 
deserted  Guadalquiver, — the  industry  of  Berne, 
and  the  poverty  of  the  Valais, — all  show  that  man, 


COSTUME. 


223 


to  enjoy  social  and  political  prosperity,  must  be 
ecclesiastically  free. 

Exceptions,  it  is  admitted,  prove  the  rule,  and  if 
the  adherents  of  the  papal  faith  can  only  point  to 
the  apparent  enlightenment  of  Belgium,  Pro- 
testants may  look  abroad  over  the  world  in  which 
they  dwell,  and  invoke  the  inhabitants  of  every 
continent  and  every  land, — from  Australia  to 
Oregon,  from  Iceland  to  the  Cape, — to  testify  the 
truth  of  Macaulay's  declaration:  "Our  firm  belief 
is,  that  the  North  owes  its  great  civilization  and 
prosperity  chiefly  to  the  moral  effect  of  the  Refor- 
mation, and  that  the  decay  of  the  Southern 
countries  of  Europe  is  mainly  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  great  Catholic  revival." 

One  little  incident  on  the  Prado  struck  me 
forcibly  as  illustrating  the  inconsistency  of  man. 
The  Spaniards,  every  one  knows,  are  proverbially 
proud  of  their  country,  their  language,  and  espe- 
cially of  their  dress.  Yet  all  the  riders  on  the 
ground  wore  the  French  costume,  and  I  saw  a 
cuirassier  on  guard  order  off  two  respectable-look- 
ing men  on  horseback,  solely  because  they  were 
dressed  in  jackets  and  sombreros. 


CHAPTER  X. 


AGRICULTURE  IN  SPAIN — WANT  OF  ROADS  —  THE  ARMOURY  AT 
MADRID — THE  MUSEUM,  OR  GALLERY  OF  PAINTINGS — PICTURES  BY 
MURILLO — TITIAN's  "ADORATION  OF  THE  KINGS " — RAFFAELLE's 
"  LO  8PASIMO  DELLA  SICILIa"  AND  "  LA  PERLa" — NOTES  ON 
REMBRANDT  AND  RUBENS — SENTIMENTAL  ADMIRATION  OF  THE 
FLEMISH  SCHOOL — SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS  ON  "  INSTANTANEOUS 
raptures" — VULGARITY  OF  RUBENS'  WORKS — HIS  PORTRAIT  OF 
SIR  THOMAS  MORE — THE  STREET  OF  ALCALA  ON  MONDAYS — VISIT 
TO  A  BULL-FIGHT — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  EXHIBITION — MY  SENSA- 
TIONS WHILE  WITNESSING  IT — REMARKS  ON  THE  AMUSEMENT — 
ITS  INCREASING  POPULuV-RTTY — DEPARTURE  FOR  THE  ESCURIAL 
— THE  PALACE  —  VILLAGE  AND  CHURCH  ON  THE  OUADARAMA 
MOUNTAINS — RETURN  TO   THE   CAPITAL. 

House-rent,  provisions,  and  fuel  are  very  ex- 
pensive in  Madrid,  and  year  by  year  the  last  is 
becoming  scarcer.  The  Castilians  never  plant 
trees  unless  to  bear  fruit,  or  shade  their  Alamedas, 
as  they  entertain  a  foolish  idea  that  their  branches 
afford  shelter  to  birds  which  eat  the  com.  The 
consequence  is  that  the  soil  has  got  calcined,  and 
as  they  do  not  plough  it  deep  enough,   the  heat 


AGRICULTURE. 


225 


withers  the  roots  of  the  plants,  rendering  the  ground 
comparatively  unproductive.  Around  the  capital 
I  observed  numerous  fields  of  the  small  purple 
saffron  flower,  much  used  in  Spanish  cookery. 
The  beds  of  it  require  to  be  made  very  smootli. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  rural  scenery  strikes  the 
English  traveller,  viz.  the  absence  of  farm-houses, 
for  the  peasants,  generally  speaking,  live  in  ham- 
lets at  a  distance  from  the  scene  of  their  labours. 
This  custom,  originating  in  warlike  times,  perse- 
vered in  because  banditti  still  abound,  causes  a  sad 
waste  of  time  and  labour;  for  every  ploughman 
requires  to  drive  his  mules  for  miles  before  he 
reaches  the  field,  and  to  traverse  the  same  miles 
again  on  his  return.  At  sunset  you  see  the 
labourers  returning  across  the  treeless  plains, 
riding  their  jaded  mules,  and  slowly  wending  their 
way  to  the  villages  where  they  dwell.  Clearly 
outlined  against  a  southern  sky,  they  look  like 
Arabs  crossing  the  deserts  where  neither  the  fig  nor 
the  palm-tree  grow. 

**  This,"  says  the  Honourable  Mr.  Murray,*  "  is 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  Spanish  scenery.     In 

•  "  Cities  and  Wilds  of  Andalucia,"  vol.  ii.  p.  81. 

l3 


226 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBEK. 


Other  lands  a  kindly  feeling  seems  to  exist  between 
the  soil  and  those  who  cultivate  it ;  the  husband- 
man's dwelling  is  by  his  vineyard,  or  in  the  midst 
of  his  fields ;  the  shepherd  lays  him  down  by  his 
pastures  green  and  quiet  waters ;  the  sequestered 
glen  has  its  cottage,  and  the  chalet  speaks  of  an 
attachment  which  mountain  hardships  and  labours 
serve  but  to  rivet ;  but  here  an  unwonted  estrange- 
ment is  everywhere  observable ;  the  cultivator 
seems  to  manifest  an  aversion  to  the  scene  of  his 
labours,  and  removes  his  dwelling  as  far  as  possible 
from  it.  Rich,  therefore,  as  the  plain  may  be,  it 
wants  all  those  signs  of  life  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  associate  with  fertility  of  soil.  There 
are  no  cottages  by  the  wayside,  nor  farm-houses 
apart  at  intervals ;  no  curling  smoke  marks  the 
sites  of  homes  and  hearths ;  no  scattered  hamlets 
crown  the  knolls,  or  lie  basking  in  the  slopes. 
Out  wide  and  far  the  eye  travels  over  a  houseless 
prospect,  so  expressive,  notwithstanding  its  natural 
abundance,  of  solitude  and  abandonment,  that  the 
abode  of  the  pestilence  could  not  surpass  it  in  sad- 
dening impressions." 

The  want  of  internal  communication  sadly  in- 


THE  CURRENCY. 


227 


jures  Spain ;  there  are  no  tolerable  roads,  and  not 
a  single  canal  to  bring  the  produce  to  market ; 
consequently,  the  cities  on  the  coast  actually  import 
com  from  Odessa,  although  situated  in  a  country 
wiiich  might  be  the  granary  of  Europe.  Three- 
fourths  of  the  soil  at  present  remain  untilled  ;  agri- 
culture has  not  advanced  for  centuries  ;  an  enormous 
national  debt  weighs  upon  the  people,  and  not  one- 
half  of  what  they  pay  in  the  shape  of  taxes  ever 
reaches  the  treasury.  Since  the  loss  of  her  Trans- 
atlantic colonies  the  balance  of  trade  has  been  two 
to  one  against  Spain. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  although  Spanish  dol- 
lars are  so  favourite  a  coin  in  other  countries  of 
Southern  Europe,  they  are  almost  unknown  in  the 
land  which  coined  them,  excepting  in  Madrid, 
where  government  has  issued  them  anew.  Five- 
franc  pieces,  worth  nineteen  reals  each,  form  the 
circulating  medium,  while  pesetas,  equivalent  to 
francs,  half-pesetas,  and  quarter-dollar  pieces,  are 
the  commonest  smaller  silver  coins. 

None  of  the  armories  which  I  have  seen  in  any 
part  of  Europe  pleased  me  so  much  as  that  occupy- 
ing a  long  building  opposite  the  gate  of  the  royal 


228 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


palace  at  Madrid.  The  eiFect  on  entering  strikes 
one  with  surprise.  The  centre  of  a  gallery  two- 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  feet  in  length  is  filled 
with  steel-clad  warriors  on  foot  and  horseback  ; 
from  the  roof  hang  banners  captured  in  war,  and 
glass  cases  containing  swords,  shields,  and  muskets 
of  antique  and  curious  workmanship  surround  the 
room.  The  antiquary  would  object  to  the  bright 
polish  of  all  these  mementos  of  Spanish  chivalr}'. 
I  remarked  with  especial  interest  the  litter  in 
which  they  carried  Charles  V.  when  suffering  from 
the  gout,  the  veritable  armour  of  Gonsalvo  de  Cor- 
dova, the  Great  Captain  whose  triumphs  astonished 
Italy,  and  the  scuttle-like  helmet  worn  by  Boabdil 
el  Chico,  the  last  king  of  the  Moors. 

From  the  Puerto  del  Sol,  the  Calle  de  San 
Jeronimo  leads  to  the  south  end  of  the  Prado,  run- 
ning at  about  an  angle  of  45o  to  the  street  of 
Alcala.  It  has  some  good  shops  and  handsome 
houses.  In  Madrid,  as  in  Vienna  and  other  con- 
tinental cities,  several  families  inhabit  each  of  these 
stately  mansions,  having  a  common  entrance,  and 
a  common  porter,  the  latter  dressed  in  expensive 
livery  and  holding  the  stick  of  office.     This  street 


PICTURES. 


229 


ends  in  the  Plaza  de  las  Cortes,  where  stands  the 
new  Parliament  House,  a  humble  imitation  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  in  Paris. 

Crossing  the  Prado,  you  have  on  the  left  the 
pyramidical  monument  erected  to  the  victims  sacri- 
ficed by  Murat  on  the  2d  of  May,  1808,  and  on 
the  right  an  extensive,  but  ill-planned,  and  clumsy 
building,  now  called  the  Museum.  The  lower 
story  contains  the  sculpture,  which  is  very  inferior, 
and  there  the  stranger  will  not  tarry,  for  the 
picture-galleries  above  can  boast  of  2,000  paint- 
ings, amongst  which,  to  say  nothing  of  second-rate 
artists,  are  22  works  by  Vandyke,  10  by  Claude, 
16  by  Guido,  46  by  Murillo,  21  by  N.  Poussin, 
10  by  Eaffaelle,  53  by  Ribcra,  62  by  Rubens,  52 
by  Teniers,  43  by  Titian,  27  by  Tintorello,  62  by 
Velasquez,  24  by  Paul  Veronese,  10  by  Wouver- 
mans,  and  14  by  Zurbaran. 

Neither  in  Rome  nor  in  Florence,  neither  in 
Munich  nor  Vienna,  have  I  seen  anything  so  com- 
plete, so  rich,  so  varied  as  this  celebrated  collec- 
tion. The  paintings  of  the  Spanish  school  hang  in 
two  rooms  which  you  enter  from  the  right  and  left 
of  the  rotunda  or  lobby.     There  the  admirers  of 


2e30 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


Velasquez  will  find  food  for  meditation  during  a 
lifetime;  but  none  of  his  works  arrested  my 
attention  so  much  as  that  whicli  represents  the 
Infanta  Margarita  talking  to  her  pages,  while  her 
two  dwarfs  tease  a  patient  dog.  The  perspective 
and  colouring  of  the  room  in  which  she  sits  attract 
notice,  even  before  you  observe  the  dog,  which  one 
might  easily  suppose  to  be  alive.  The  fact  of  so 
many  paintings  by  Velasquez  being  in  this  gallery 
may  be  accounted  for  when  we  recollect  his  close 
intimacy  with  Philip  the  Fourth.  They  were 
nearly  as  confidential  friends  as  Charles  the  Fifth 

and  Titian. 

In  those  days  Spain  held  the  leading  place 
among  the  nations  of  Europe;  her  influence  ex- 
tended from  the  Carpathian  Mountains  to  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules,  and  a  large  portion  both  of 
Italy  and  Germany  owned  allegiance  to  the  same 
king.  Several  successive  sovereigns  patronised 
painters  of  merit,  and  collected  from  all  countries 
works  of  art;  so  that  even  now,  notwithstanding 
political  disasters,  Madrid  possesses  the  finest 
gallery  in  the  world. 

In  describing  Seville,  I  have  already  said  so 


MURILLO. 


231 


much  in  praise  of  Murillo,  that  I  feel  it  would  be 
out  of  place  to  allude  at  any  length  to  his  pictures 
in  the  National   Museum;   but  there  is  a   Holy 
Family  near   the   door   of  the  first  room,  where 
Joseph,    thoughtful    and    silent,    leans    over    the 
majestic  babe,  as  if  meditating  on  his  wonderful 
origin,    and   still   more   wonderful   destiny.      No 
human  pen  could  narrate  the  history  so  graphically 
as  the  great  artist  has  told  it  on  his  canvas.     How 
many  texts  in  holy  writ  does  it   illustrate,  how 
many  expressions   of  the   Evangelists  might   be 
inscribed  on  it  as  mottos !     Then  there  are  lovely 
pictures  of  St.  John  and  the  Infant  Saviour,— 
Rebecca  at  the  Well,— St.  Bernard's  Vision,— the 
Virgin  with  a  rosary,  so  life-like  that  you  start  on 
beliolding  it,  and  a  Conception  which  exceeds  all 
praise.     As   you  walk  up   and   down   these  tw^o 
rooms,   Murillo's    bright-eyed    children    joyously 
salute  you,  and  beggars  seem,  in  Andalucian  ac- 
cents, to  implore  alms.     No  one  can  mistake  the 
works  of  that  distinguished  man,— I  required  no 
guide  to  tell  where  he  had  been  employed. 

The  longest  apartment  in  the  edifice,  called  the 
Italian  gallery,  enters  also  from  the  rotunda.     It 


232 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


RAFFAELLE. 


233 


were  a  vain  task  to  describe  the  leading  works 
which  adorn  it,  or  even  to  mention  them  by 
name.  Few  paintings  by  Titian  have  given  me 
so  much  pleasure  as  his  "  Adoration  of  the  Kings," 
though  the  background  has  either  been  left  un- 
finished, or  retouched  by  a  novice.  Near  the  door 
a  picture  by  one  in  no-wise  celebrated— Andres 
Vaccaro,  of  Naples— struck  me  as  of  remarkable 
merit.  It  represents  the  dedication  of  San  Caye- 
tano  when  a  child  to  the  Virgin.  The  light  from 
behind  the  altar  shines  on  the  infant  and  her 
attendants,  so  as  to  produce  an  effect  not  only 
striking  but  beautiful. 

I  was  walking  along  this  gallery  in  order  to 
begin  my  examination  of  its  wonders  at  the  further 
end,  when  three  celebrated  works  by  Raifaelle 
stopped  my  progress.  No  man  in  the  possession  of 
eyesight  could  pass  these  paintings  without  paying 
a  tribute  of  admiration  to  the  "  grand  old  master," 
who  committed  to  after  ages  a  legacy  so  sublime. 

"  La  Spasimo  della  Sicilia,"  so  called  because 
executed  for  the  IVIonastery  of  Santa  Maria  dello 
Spasimo  at  Palermo,  represents  the  moment  when 
our  Saviour,  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  his  cross. 


I 


has  fallen  on  his  knees  while  ascending  Calvary  ; 
resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  lie  with  his  right  hand 
grasps  the  accursed  tree;  while  looking  to  the 
weeping  women  he  exclaims,  "  Weep  not  for  me, 
but  for  yourselves  and  your  children!"  Language 
cannot  express  the  intensity  of  that  grief  which 
Mary's  face  discloses,  or  the  calm  majestic  endur- 
ance written  in  the  countenance  of  her  Lord. 

Raffaelle  alone  of  all  artists  could  render  hu- 
manity and  divinity  equally  observable  in  the 
appearance  of  Christ.  We  see  him  staggering, 
falling  under  the  pressure  of  physical  agony,  but 
looking  up  to  heaven  while  he  says,  "  God's  will 
be  done."  Every  minor  detail  in  this  picture  may 
be  said  to  be  perfect.  You  see  the  Roman  escort 
defiling  from  the  city,  through  the  rugged  pass, 
the  subdued  sadness  of  Mary  Magdalen,  and  the 
tears  trickling  do^v^l  the  cheeks  of  St.  John ;  atten- 
tion is  concentrated  at  once  on  the  face  of  Jesus ; 
but  the  back-ground  shows  no  want  of  careful 
finishing,  and  in  the  minutest  particular  genius 
can  be  discerned.  Vasari,  in  the  third  volume  of 
his  "Vite  de  Pittori,"  tells  us  that  this  work 
suffered   shipwreck  on  its  way  to  Palermo,  was 


234 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


cast  ashore,  on  the  coast  of  Genoa,  uninjured,  the 
case  having  been  water-tight,  and  then  restored 
by  order  of  Leo  X.  to  Sicily.  We  know  that 
Philip  IV.  carried  it  off  from  thence,  that  it 
was  afterwards  removed  to  Paris,  and  finally,  in 
1816,  returned  to  Spain.  Few  works  of  art  have 
met  with  so  many  adventures. 

If  we  may  judge  from  the  style  and  colouring, 
another  work  of  Raffaclle's,  scarcely  less  famous, 
was  executed  about  the  same  time.  Philip  IV. 
purchased  it  from  Cromwell  for  £3,000,  at  the 
sale  of  Charles  the  First's  gallery.  When  he  first 
saw  it  he  exclaimed,  "  This  is  my  pearl ;"  hence 
it  has  been  called  "  La  Perla."  It  represents  the 
Madonna  holding  the  Infant  Jesus,  while  the  little 
St.  John  offers  to  the  heavenly  babe  some  fruits 
which  he  had  gathered.  Christ  looks  inquiringly  « 
towards  his  mother,  whose  left  ann  rests  on  the 
kneeling  St.  Anne.  In  the  back-ground  we  see 
Joseph  standing  near  some  ruins. 

Another  Holy  Family,  also  by  Raffaelle,  hangs 
beside  this  magnificent  picture  ;  but  the  third  chef 
(Tceuvre  to  which  I  refer  is  that  called  "The 
Visitation,"  where  Elizabeth  meets,  on  the  banks 


I 


CLAUDE — VANDYKE — REMBRANDT. 


235 


of  the  Jordan,  her  who  was  to  be  the  mother  of 
her  Lord.  The  very  words  of  St.  Luke  occur  to 
the  mind  of  whoever  beholds  this  painting,  dis- 
tinguished as  it  is  for  truthfulness  of  sentiment, 
nobility  of  conception,  and  simplicity  of  execution. 
Mary  seems  sliglitly  embarrassed,  though  reposing 
in  the  promises  of  God,  while  Elizabeth  cordially 
greets  her  with  a  mingled  respect  and  affection, 
which  none  but  Raffaelle  could  have  portrayed. 

In  a  circular  saloon  entering  from  this  long 
gallery,  are  pictures  by  German,  French,  and 
Spanish  artists,  amongst  which  I  remarked  two 
landscapes  by  Claude— one  a  sunrise,  with  boats 
and  palaces — the  other  a  morning  scene,  with 
Magdalen  praying  amid  the  rocks. 

You  pass  next  into  the  two  rooms  filled  with 
masterpieces  from  Holland  and  Flanders.  There 
you  see  Vandyke's  grim  but  speaking  portraits; 
Rembrandt's  fine  touches,  visible  even  amid  the 
blackness  of  darkness,  and  those  ill-conceived 
groups,  sensual  subjects,  and  flashes  of  paint  which 
detract  so  much  from  the  merit  of  Rubens,  not- 
withstanding his  bold  natural  touches,  energetic 
action,  and   real   flesh   and   blood.     In  a  former 


236 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


I 


RUBENS. 


237 


work  I  took  the  liberty  of  calling  by  their  proper 
name  the  cherubs  of  the  great  Fleming,  those 
vulgar  representations  of  winged  beings,  so  little 
admired  by  connoisseurs  of  the  fine  arts.  This 
passage  excited  the  indignation  of  a  local  reviewer, 
one  of  those  petulant  men,  whom  Sheridan  has  so 
happily  described  in  his  preface  to  the  Rivals,  as 
"  little  puny  critics,  who,  usually  spleen-swoln,  from 
the  vain  idea  of  increasing  their  own  consequence, 
scatter  their  peevish  strictures  in  private  circles, 
and  scribble  at  everyone  unconnected  with  them." 
If  this  gentleman  had  known  anything  about  the 
subject  under  discussion,  he  would  no  doubt  have 
concurred  in  the  censure  pronounced  by  a  great 
majority  of  artists  on  Rubens'  heavenly  hosts. 
Perhaps,  however,  most  men  who  once  in  their 
lives  have  crossed  the  channel  and  visited  Antwerp, 
imagine  that  he  who  painted  (and  painted  with 
such  power)  "the  Descent  from  the  Cross"  had  no 
faults,  and  that  whoever  dares  to  say  a  word  in  his 
dispraise,  commits  an  unpardonable  sin  against 
good  taste. 

"There  are  others,  who,"  says  Sir  Joshua  Rey- 
nolds, in  the  first  volume   of  his  works,  '-from 


natural   imbecility   incapable   of  relishing   divine 
performances,  make  pretensions  to  instantaneous 
raptures  at  first  beholding  the  works  of  every  man 
whose  name  they  have  heard  before."     Because 
they  are  ignorant  and  pedantic,  let  us,  however, 
not  be  betrayed  into  an  admiration  for  that  eccen- 
tricity  of    design,   which,    derived    neither   from 
nature  nor  from  feeling,  may  delight  the  vulgar, 
but   not   the   man   of  taste.     "Childhood   in    its 
puiity,"  remarks  a  critic,  who  does  not  write  with- 
out knowledge,  "embodies  our  poor  notion  of  a 
cherub  better  than  anything  we  know;  and  thus 
we  bear  with  art,  when  it  confines  its  pictures  of 
celestial  choirs  to  the  mere  groups  of  beaming, 
happy,  sinless  faces,  which   make   some  master- 
pieces   so   attractive.     But    legs   and    arms   and 
sliirts  and  tunics  are  altogether  unangelic,  though 
wafted  upon  wings ;  and  thus  it  happens  that  we 
sometimes  laugh  in  spite  of  us,  when  high  in  air, 
and  seated  on  clouds,  and  scraping  their  unearthly 
fiddles,  we  see  the  hierarchy  of  the  skies  making 
concertos  for  the  saints." 

There  are  some  large  pictures,  by  Rubens,  in  the 
LouvTC,  which,  however  little  thought  of  by  men 


238 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


of  taste,  excite  the  intense  admiration  of  London 
shopkeepers   and    contributors    to   local   gazettes, 
who  think  that  an  occasional  ramble  in  the  Scotch 
Highlands,  or  a  visit  to  the  modern  exhibitions  at 
home,  entitles  them  to  pronounce  an  opinion  on 
descriptions  of  x\lpine  scenery,  and  references  to 
the  great  painters  of  Europe.     They  criticise  and 
dogmatise  as  if  from  their  infancy  they  had  been 
familiar  with  those  charming  works  which  fill  the 
galleries  of  Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain,  entirely 
ignorant  of  what  Mat  Prior  long  ago  denominated 

"  The  Titian  stroke,  the  Guido  air," 

but  for  which  one  will  look  in  vain  in  the  Pina- 

kotheques  of  Flanders. 

Returning  to  the  Dutch  rooms  of  the  Museum,— 
Neff  has  there  some  fine  interiors  of  churches,  and 
Antonio  Moro  a  large  portrait  of  Bloody  Mar>^ 
which,  if  as  faithful  as  well  painted,  gives  one  no 
very  exalted  idea  of  the  lady's  dispositions.  The 
best  work  in  the  collection,  by  Rubens,  and  one 
of  extraordinary  energy  and  power,  is  a  portrait  of 
Sir  Thomas  More.  It  arrests  the  eye  at  once. 
No  one   can  have   often  visited  the   picture   gal- 


TENIERS. 


239 


leries  abroad,  without  remarking  those  beautiful 
works  by  Teniers,  which,  life-like,  and  graphic 
as  any  theatrical  scene,  represent  chiefly  rustic 
subjects. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  these  charming 
works  in  Madrid.  One  has  a  Village  Festival  for 
its  subject;  in  another  the  artist  paints  himself 
showing  a  picture  gallery  to  the  Arch-Duke 
Albert ;  in  a  third,  ''  La  Gracios  a  Fregatrix,"  we 
see  an  old  woman  peeping  in  at  her  kitchen  door, 
while  her  aged  husband  caresses  the  pretty  servant 
girl.  This  is  a  splendid  picture.  You  expect 
while  gazing  on  it  every  moment  to  hear  the 
injured  lady's  burst  of  indignation.  Near  it  hangs 
a  fine  portrait  of  Charles  V.  on  horseback,  by 
Vandyke.  But  I  forbear,  out  of  respect  for  the 
reader,  for  it  borders  on  presumption  in  me  to 
describe  what  Mengs  has  illustrated,  and  so  many 
artists  admired.  "Thou  shalt  not  covet"  was 
proclaimed  from  Sinai  out  of  the  cloud;  but 
corrupt  human  nature  whispered  to  me,  "  Oh  for  a 
few  paintings  by  Raffaelle,  Murillo,  Guido,  Titian, 
Teniers,  and  Neff,  on   which   to   meditate   while 


240 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


eyesight  lasts! " — give  me  them,  and  I  should  never 
break  the  tenth  commandment  on  seeing  the  works 
of  Zurbaran,  Velasquez,  Paul  Veronese,  Kubens, 
and  Vandyke. 

What  a  curious  place  is  the  Puerto  del  Sol ! 
From  morning  to  night  it  is  filled  with  cloaked 
men,  gossiping,  place-hunting,  seeking  news, 
planning  intrigues,  selling  lottery-tickets,  smoking, 
idling,  and  looking  out  for  victims.  There  assem- 
ble the  patriotic  debauchees  who  scheme  revo- 
lutions, and  the  no  less  patriotic  adventurers 
who  overturn  ministries ;  and  there  has  occurred 
many  a  scene  which  will  be  long  remembered  in 

Spain. 

On  Monday  afternoon  this  square  presents  an 
appearance  of  unusual  bustle,  for  carriages,  cabs, 
and  omnibuses  drive  rapidly  past,  conveying 
passengers  up  the  Calle  del  Alcala  to  the 
bull-fight. 

Following  the  eager  multitude,  I  found  this 
spacious  street  lined  by  cuirassiers,  part  of  a  bat- 
talion formed  specially  for  such  services,  while 
horses,  mules,  and   vehicles  ran  a  race  in  their 


PLAZA   DE   TOROS. 


241 


anxiety  to  reach  tlie  place  of  spectacle  ;  every  one 
seemed  breathless  with  excitement,  eager  to  see 
tlie  fray ;  for 

"  As  *  Panem  et  Circenses'  was  the  cry 
Among  the  Roman  populace  of  old, 
So  'Pan  y  Toros*  is  the  cry  in  Spain." 

The  Plaza  de  Toros  stands  immediately  outside 
of  the  gate  of  Alcala.     It  holds  fourteen  thousand 
people,  and  during  summer  always  fills ;  indeed, 
the   tickets   then   are    generally   at    a   premium. 
I  was  surprised  to  find  that  on  Mondays,  being  the 
bull-fight   day,  the  cab-drivers  raise  their   fares, 
having   so   many  demands  to  satisfy.     I  walked 
slowly  up    the    Calle    del  Alcala   watching    the 
excited  populace,  and  at   half-past  three   o'clock 
found  myself  seated  on  one  of  the  upper  benches, 
looking  do^v^l  on  the  vast  amphitheatre    and  tlie 
motley  company   there    assembled.      The   boxes 
resemble  balconies,  those  of  private  parties  being 
partitioned  off'  from  the  space  allotted  to  the  rick 
public.     Below  them  are  wooden  forms,  also  pro- 
tected from  wind    and   rain;    while    the    crowd 
occupy  stone  seats  around  the  ring,  uncovered,  but 
protected  from  tlie  arena,  first  by  a  circular  walk, 

VOL.  I.  M 


242 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE  TIBER. 


and  then  by  a   palisade  six  feet  high.     A  stone 
step  suiTOunds  this  palisade  on  the  inside  to  enable 
the  chulos,  who  assail  the  bull  with  flags,  to  leap 
out  of  his  way  when   he   turns  to    attack  them. 
From  the  windows    of  the  passage,    behind   the 
boxes,  you  obtain  a  fine  view  of  Madrid  and  the 
Guadarama     hills.     A    strong  guard   of    soldiers 
attends  every  bull-fight,  for  the  spectators  some- 
times become  mischievous,  and  their  rulers  think 
that  rows  may  end   in   revolution.     Government 
owns  the  Plaza  de  Toros  at  Madrid,  and  gives  the 
net  proceeds  to  the  cliarities.     Before  the  perform- 
ance  commenced,  the   crowd   of   cloaked  figures 
below  became  very  noisy,  and  every  now  and  then 
a   sombrero  was  tossed  into  the  arena  to  raise  a 

« 

laugh  at  the  expense  of  its  owner. 

Soon  after  half-past  three  o'clock  a  yell  of  im- 
patience echoed  through  the  amphitheatre;  then 
sounded  the  trumpets  and  drums,  and  the  actors 
entered  to  exhibit  themselves  and  bow  to  the 
director,  who  sat  in  his  elevated  seat  near  the  box 
of  royalty.  First  came  the  matadors  and  chulos 
on  foot,  all  richly  dressed  in  particoloured  garments 
and  jackets  of  silver  twist.     The  province  of  the 


VISIT   TO   A   BULL-FIGHT. 


243 


fonner  is  to  end  each  act  by  stabbing  the  bull  in  a 
vital   ])art   witli    a   two-edged    sword,    while    the 
animal  tries  to  gore  a  bright  red  flag,  which  they 
hold  in  the  left  hand.     The  latter  run  round  tlie 
brute  with  flags  of  other  colours,  to  excite  his  ire 
and  make  him  rush  more  furiously  to  the  conflict 
The  picadors  followed  on  horseback,  gaily  attired, 
and  wearing  armour  under  their  clothes  to  protect 
them  when  unseated  from  the  liorns  of  the  bull. 
Behind   them,  adorned  with   fantastic  trappings, 
entered  two  teams  of  three  mules  each,  which  drag 
the  carcases  out  of  the  arena  when  all  is  over.    This 
ceremony  being  ended,  the  combatants  dispersed, 
the   trumpets   sounded  again,   and  in  rushed  an 
infuriated  bro^vn  bull,  unhorsing  one  picador  in 
his  wild  career,  and  in  a  moment  afterwards  hurling 
another  horse  and  rider  to  the  earth.     A  third  time 
he  charged,  and  again  his  assailant  rolled  in  the 
dust ;  but  the  chulos  kept  him,  with  their  flags,  lon^ 
at  bay  over  the  body  of  the  fallen  man.    His  fourth 
charge    proved    more    successful,   for   his   liorns, 
entering  the  poor  horse's  belly,  caused  instantaneous 
death.     A  fifth  time  the  bull  assaulted  a  picador, 
and  his  unfortunate  steed  shared   a  similar  fate. 

m2 


244 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBER. 


A"-ain  and  a^am  the  brute  returned  to  gore  the 
mangled    body,   from    which   flowed    torrents    of 
blood.     This  amusement  he  seemed  to  relish,  for 
the  chulos  could  not  for  a  long  time  tempt  him 
from  the  spot ;  but  the  audience  loudly  expressed 
their  disapprobation   by  shouts  of  "  Cavallo,"   in 
which   most  lustily  I  joined.      Tlien    the    drum 
sounded,  the    picadors    retired,    and    the  chulos, 
advancing  to  the  bull,  adroitly  stuck  into  his  neck 
barbed  rods,  called  banderillas,  in  order  to  render 
him  more  furious.    Then  came  the  matador  with  his 
bright  red  flag  and  sword,  and  plunged  the  latter 
up  to  the  hilt  in  the  animal.     But  he  had  missed 
his  aim,  and  another  sword  had  to  be  procured. 
A  second  time  he  stabbed  him,  and  then  proved 
more  successful,  for   the  bull  instantly  fell ;  the 
spectators  cheered,  the  military  band  struck  up  a 
lively  tune,    and   the  mules  were   driven   at  full 
ppeed  into  the  arena  to  drag  out  the  carcases. 

As  soon  as  these  had  been  removed,  a  large 
black  and  white  bull  rushed  madly  into  the  ring, 
bellowing  with  fury.  His  first  exploit  was  to  drag 
out  the  entrails  of  a  horse,  which,  throwing  its 
rider,  galloped  in  this  maimed  state  several  times 


A   BULL-FIGHT. 


245 


round  the  arena,  till  caught  by  a  spectator  wlio 
leaped  the  palisade.  Six  times  did  another  picador 
charge  this  combatant,  and  four  times  he  and  his 
steed  parted  company ;  but  they  rose  again  to 
renew  the  conflict.  The  sixth  rencounter  proved 
fatal  to  the  horse,  and  only  a  few  minutes  elapsed 
before  two  other  chargers  also  breathed  their  last. 

The  third  bull  showed  evident  symptoms  of 
cowardice.  He  fled  from  the  picadors  and  refused 
to  charge.  So  the  chulos  ran  for  squibs,  and 
stuck  them  into  his  neck,  w^hich  rendered  him 
fui'ious  enough.  The  matador,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  slay  this  animal,  missed  his  stroke  several  times  ; 
the  audience  each  time  raised  a  loudor  and  louder 
yell,  hearing  whicli  the  poor  man  seemed  to 
tremble  from  head  to  foot;  at  length  the  bull 
crouched  down  from  exhaustion,  and  a  chulo  di- 
spatched him  with  a  dagger. 

The  fourth  bull  was  soon  killed.  The  fifth 
animal,  a  huge  black  one,  charged  the  first  picador 
he  saw,  hurled  him  to  the  ground,  and  leaping 
over  his  prostrate  enemies,  bounded  madly  away. 
But  his  ardour  speedily  cooled,  and  he  refused 
to  face  the  foe. 


246 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


Just  as  the  drum  sounded  for  the  matador  to 
dispatch  him  I  left  the  circus,  for  it  began  to  get 
botli  dark  and  cold,  but  not  a  single  person  out  of 
the  nine  thousand  present  departed  before  me, 
although,  perhaps,  all  of  them  had  seen  the  same 
spectacle  hundreds  of  times  previously.  Men, 
women,  and  little  children  seemed  quite  absorbed 
with  the  contests,  and  expressed  their  interest  by 
constant  shouts,  especially  of  applause  when  some 
poor  worn-out  horse,  gored  by  the  infuriated 
animal,  bit  the  dust. 

My  readers,  I  hope,  will  pardon  this  somewhat 
minute  description  of  a  sight  which  can  only  be 
witnessed  in  Spain,  and  the  mode  of  conducting 
which  many  may  have  wished  to  know.  I  have 
felt  myself,  when  reading  books  on  the  Peninsula, 
that  travellers  are  apt  to  take  it  for  granted  that 
folks  at  home  understand  the  nature  of  such  exhi- 
bitions, whereas  several  persons  have  asked  me  if 
the  bulls  fought  with  each  other,  what  sort  of  wild 
beasts  are  in  the  arena,  whether  the  gladiators  or 
the  animals  were  generally  victorious,  and  such 
like  questions,  manifesting  an  entire  ignorance  of 
the  performance  which  the  Spaniards  so  much  love. 


A   BULL-FIGHT. 


247 


Another  query,  somewhat  more  difficult  to  answer/ 
has  also  been  frequently  put  to  me, — "  What  did 
you  think  of  a  bull-fight?" 

Although  the  mangling  of  horses  is  a  spectacle 
repulsive  to  every  humane  mind,  yet  this  great 
national  amusement  was  neither  so  disgusting  nor 
so  exciting  as  I  expected.  Instead  of  prancing 
high -mettled  Castilian  steeds,  eager  to  encounter 
an  enemy,  you  find  in  the  ring  emaciated  broken- 
kneed  old  horses,  the  worn-out  hacks  no  longer 
useful  to  the  cab-drivers,  so  terrified  that  their 
riders  can  with  the  greatest  difficulty  induce  them 
to  face  the  bull,  and  so  feeble  that  they  die  almost 
without  a  struggle.  The  most  horrible  scenes 
occur  when  the  horns  of  the  beast  drag  out  their 
entrails,  or  enter  often  into  their  bodies  without 
touching  a  vital  part.  I  saw  one  white  charger 
which  had  been  gored  so  frequently  that  a  spec- 
tator would  have  imagined  him  painted  red;  he 
had  three  legs  out  of  four  broken,  but  notwith- 
standing, when  I  left  my  box,  his  rider  had  not 
dismourited. 

As  to  the  interest  caused  by  the  conflict,  I  do 
not  see  how  any  one  can  feel  it  to  be  so  great  as 


24S 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


that  felt  in  a  good  horse  race,  or  a  spirited  run 
with  the  fox-hounds.  There  is  no  uncertainty,  no 
doubt  as  to  the  result;  the  bull  must  kill  the 
horses  and  the  matador  must  kill  the  bull. 

When  the  Komans  filled  the  Coliseum,  when 
Paul  fought  at  Ephesus,  even  when  Caligula  feasted 
his  eyes  on  cruel  orgies,  there  was  a  kind  of  fair 
play,  a  chance  that  either  combatant  might  prove 
victorious;  but  the  Spaniards  have  nothing  on 
which  to  speculate,  excepting  the  different  degrees 
of  spirit  shown  by  the  bulls,  and  the  varieties  of 
skill  displayed  by  those  who  use  the  two-edged 
sword.  We  must  undoubtedly  take  into  consider- 
ation the  influence  of  custom  and  education  before 
setting  down  cruelty  as  a  characteristic  of  the 
nation,  solely  on  the  gi*ound  that  all  classes  delight 
in  these  exhibitions ;  some  writers,  perhaps,  have 
arrived  too  hastily  at  this  conclusion ;  but  surely 
wherever  Christian  precepts  exert  a  powerful  in- 
fluence on  character,  they  would  not  for  a  moment 
be  tolerated. 

My  predominant  feeling  while  gazing  on  the 
excited  multitude  was  one  of  intense  pity,  that 
rational  men  and  gentle  women  could  feel  pleasure 


REMARKS  ON  THE   EXHIBITION. 


249 


in  witnessing  a  sport  so  utterly  degrading  to 
humanity,  and  at  the  same  time  so  devoid  of  all 
those  accompaniments  which  exhilarate  and  in- 
terest the  sportsmen  of  England.  Sensually  de- 
graded indeed  must  be  the  minds  of  those  who 
week  after  week  can  spend  hours  in  the  bull-ring. 
It  is  strange  what  expedients  men  will  adopt, 
who,  unaccustomed  to  the  delights  of  domestic 
happiness,  uninfluenced  by  the  exalted  laws  of 
Christianity,  unacquainted  with  the  pleasures  of 
intellectual  pursuits,  spend  their  lives  in  seeking 
for  enjo}Tnent  to  the  senses,  and  have  no  thoughts 
beyond  the  occupations  of  the  hour.  Even  in  the 
present  practical  century,  and  in  countries  which 
require  active  exertion  and  mental  industry,  we 
have,  especially  in  the  south  of  Europe,  men  who 
may  be  addressed  in  the  words  of  Young — 

"  0  ye  Lorenzos  of  our  age  !  who  deem 
One  moment  unamused  a  misery." 

Incredible  as  it  may  appear,  it  is  nevertheless 
true,  that  so  far  from  love  for  this  sport  diminish- 
ing in  Spain,  it  increases  year  by  year;  new 
bull-rings  are  building  in  many  provinces  :  I  saw 
them  laying  the  foundation  of  one  at  the  little 

m3 


250 


.THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


village  of  San  Roque,  near  Gibraltar ;  and  even  in 
Catalonia,  where  the  amusement  has  hitherto  been 
unpopular,  picadors  and  chulos  cannot  be  obtained 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  meet  the  demand. 

The  street  and  gate  of  Alcala  have  a  strikingly 
line  eifect  at  sunset,  when  the  golden  rays  illumi- 
nate the  white  houses,  the  acacia-trees  and  the 
equipages  returning  from  the  Prado.  Few  cities 
in  Europe  can  boast  of  an  entrance  so  noble ; 
indeed  Madrid  has  been  highly  favoured  in  this 
particular,  for  most  of  its  approaches  sweep  up  the 
hill  between  rows  of  elms,  and  end  in  a  handsome 
arcli. 

We  set  off  late  one  afternoon  to  visit  that  enor- 
mous edifice  built  by  Philip  II.  in  memory  of  the 
battle  of  St.  Quentin,  as  a  church,  a  monaster}",  and 
a  palace,  dedicated  to  St.  LawTcnce,  constructed  in 
the  form  of  a  gridiron,  because,  according  to  the 
legend,  it  had  been  the  instrument  on  which  that 
saint  suffered  martyrdom,  and  called  the  Escurial. 
Our  conveyance  consisted  of  a  rickety  carriage 
drawn  by  five  horses,  with  a  driver  and  a  running 
attendant  to  urge  on  the  leaders.  The  road  is 
broad  and  in  good  repair  all  the  way.     Passing  out 


THE   ESCURIAL. 


251 


of  the  city  at  the  Palace  Gate,  we  drove  for  a 
couple  of  miles  along  an  avenue  of  elms,  rather 
disfigured  by  tall  brick  columns  connected  with  an 
aqueduct  which  supplies  the  capital.  The  bed  of 
the  Manzanares  being  nearly  dry  was  serving  for  a 
bleaching  green  to  hundreds  of  women,  who  washed 
their  clothes  in  the  brook  and  dried  them  on  the 
stones. 

From  the  rising  ground  beyond,  the  city  is  seen 
to  advantage ;  I  counted  twenty-three  towxrs.  For 
a  considerable  distance  the  road  skirts  the  Prado, 
a  vast  hunting  enclosure  belonging  to  the  royal 
family,  surrounded  by  a  low  wall  and  covered 
with  evergreen  oaks.  The  vines  had  all  withered 
for  the  w^inter,  and  the  peasants  were  busy  plough- 
ing, or  rather  scraping  the  grain  fields  for  the 
crop  of  the  following  year.  In  a  few  hours  dark- 
ness came  on,  and  we  arrived  at  the  Posada  of 
the  village,  near  the  palace,  during  rain  and 
tempest. 

Next  morning  early  we  sallied  out  to  see  the 
situation  of  our  lodging,  and  inspect  that  huge  pile 
of  buildings  founded  by  a  monk,  a  madman,  and  a 


252 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


THE   ESCURIAL. 


253 


h^  III 


fanatic,  and  now  used  as  the  regal  tomb.  It  stands 
on  the  slope  of,  and  its  chief  entrance  faces,  a  wild 
gloomy  Sierra,  crowned  with  rocks  and  destitute 
of  trees.  In  the  centre  is  a  large  church  sur- 
mounted by  a  dome,  and  surrounded  by  the  former 
dwellings  of  the  monks.  The  windows  of  the 
palace  command  a  splendid  view  over  a  finely 
wooded  park  as  far  as  Madrid.  These  apartments 
form  the  handle  of  the  gridiron.  So  vast  is  the 
edifice,  that  it  looks  grand  even  amidst  the  ever- 
lasting hills,  and  may  be  easily  seen  twenty  miles 
off  on  the  road  to  the  capital.  It  measures  seven 
hundred  and  forty-four  feet  long,  by  five  hundred 
and  eighty  broad,  has  eleven  hundred  windows,  all 
of  them  small,  sixty-three  fountains,  eighty  stair- 
cases, and  sixteen  court-yards,  and  covers  three 
thousand  and  two  square  feet  of  ground.  At  each 
comer  rises  a  tower.  The  French  sacked  it  in 
1808,  and  many  parts  are  now  in  bad  repair — 
windows  want  glass  and  roofs  slates.  Around  the 
open  space  outside  are  buildings  formerly  tenanted 
by  courtiers,  once  the  quarters  of  Wellington's 
troops,  and  now  silent  as  the  tomb. 


The  adjoining  village  has  been  nearly  deserted, 
ruined  and  half-finished  houses  testifying  to  a  time 
of  prosperity  gone  by,  and  reminding  one  of 
Goldsmith's  description  of  Auburn — 

"  E'en  now  the  devastation  is  begun, 
And  half  the  business  of  destruction  done." 

After  visiting  the  dismantled  state-rooms  of  the 
regal  abode  we  were  ushered  into  the  closet 
where  Philip  II.  so  long  slept  in  sight  of  the 
high  altar  of  the  church,  and  into  the  adjoining 
room,  where  he  received  liis  ministers,  and  in  which 
they  still  show  the  chair  he  sat  on,  the  stool  on 
which  he  placed  his  gouty  leg,  tlie  board  covered 
with  velvet  on  which  he  planned  his  wars,  and 
the  writing-table  stained  by  the  ink  from  his  pen. 
In  the  sacristy  of  the  chapel  there  is  a  picture  by 
Claudio  Coello,  exceedingly  well  painted,  and 
illustrating  forcibly  the  superstitions  of  a  former 
age.  It  represents  the  imbecile  Charles  II. 
and  his  courtiers  kneeling  before  the  wafer  which 
bled  at  Gorcum  when  trodden  on  by  the  Zuinglian 
heretics. 

In    the    old    church   you   are   sho^ai   Titian's 


254 


THE  TAGU8  AND  THE  TIBER. 


famous  altar-piece,  representing  h?an  Lorenzo  being 
burnt  alive  on  a  red-hot  gi'idiron.  This  work  has 
a  European  reputation ;  but  really,  the  lovers  of 
the  horrible  alone  could  enjoy  it.  Ascending  to 
the  high  choir,  we  inspected  some  of  the  illuminated 
manuscripts,  two  hundred  and  eighteen  of  which— 
the  finest  in  the  world— are  there  preserved.  The 
last  place  we  visited  was  the  Pantheon,  or  burial 
vault  of  the  kings,  a  circular  hall  directly  under 
the  great  altar  of  the  church.  The  centre  of  the 
apartment  was  occupied  by  the  coffin  of  the  Prnice 
of  the  Asturias,  waiting  there  until  it  is  decided 
whether  or  not  the  babe  may  be  buried  in  the 
royal  sepulchre. 

The  Escurial  looks  better  at  a  distance  than 
when  you  are  close  to  it ;  from  the  wooded  park, 
at  the  base  of  the  elevation,  it  has  a  majestic 
appearance,  more,  however,  on  account  of  its  vast 
size  than  of  its  architecture.  As  we  pursued  our 
way  back  again  to  the  capital,  every  now  and  then 
casting  a  glance  behind  towards  the  gigantic 
palace,  the  sky  presented  a  singular  spectacle- 
dark  threatening  clouds  moved  amongst  the  hills, 


RETURN  TO  THE  CAPITAL. 


niK 


"  a  halcyon  glow,"  like  that  one  sees  at  sunset, 
illuminated  the  southern  horizon,  while  a  magnifi- 
cent double  rainbow  spanned  the  plain,  the  one 
end  seeming  to  set  on  fire  the  Guadarama  Moun- 
tains, the  other  making  Madrid  appear  like 
Bunyan's  Celestial  City— all  glorious  with  light. 


PASSPORTS. 


257 


it 


CHAPTER   XI. 

LEAVE  MxVDRID— PASSPORTS — PASSENGERS  IN  THE  DILIGENCE— THE 
LOQUACIOUS  FRENCHMAN  —  SPURS  OF  THE  GUADARAMA8  —  80- 
MOSIERR^V — THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  DOURO — ARANDA — BURGOS — 
THE  CATHEDRAL — "  COFRE  DEL  CID" — TRAFFIC  ON  THE  GREAT 
NORTHERN  ROAD — THE  PORTA  AUGUSTA — VALLEY  OF  THE  EBRO 
—  BEAUTIFUL  WOMEN  OF  MIRANDA — THE  BASQUE  PROVINCES 
— THE  FEELINGS  OF  THEIR  INHABITANTS  TOWARD  THE  PRESENT 
DYNASTY — ABOLITION  OP  THE  NATIONAL  "  FUEROS"  —  BATTLE 
OF  VITTORIA— COLLISION  AT  NIGHT — ASCENT  OF  THE  PYRENEES — 
— TEAM  OF  OXEN — TOLOSA — RESEMBLANCE  OF  THE  COUNTRY  TO 
SWITZERLAND — VIEW    OF     THE    SEA    AT    ST.  SEBASTIAN — IRUN — 

FUENTERRABIA CROSS    THE    BIDASSOA — FRENCH    CUSTOM-HOUSE 

— SCENERY  NEAR  ST.  JEAN  DE  LUZ — BAYONNE — BANKS  OF  THE 
^DCUR — SNOWY  PEAKS  OF  THE  PYRENEES — JOURNEY  TO  BOR- 
DEAUX— FRENCH  MANNERS — ARRIVAL  AT  POICTIERS. 

The  British  traveller  leaving  Madrid  requires  to 
get  his  passport  signed  by  six  different  officials, 
and  to  pay  sixty  reals ;  so  he  must  attend  to  the 
various  forms  in  good  time,  or  run  the  risk  of 
being  detained.  Rising  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  at  five  we  found  ourselves  in  the  coupd 


of  the  diligence,  bound  for  Burgos  and  Bayonne. 
Two  Englishmen  travelled  in  the  banquette,  and 
the  sole  occupant  of  the  interior  was  a  lively  old 
Frencliman,  who  had  spent  two  years  in  Spain,  but 
could  not  speak  a  word  of  the  language.  He 
complained  much  of  his  loneliness  and  bad  fortune 
— for  "this  time,"  he  said,  *' I  have  no  one  to 
speak  to,  and  last  time,  I  sat  in  the  coupe 
between  two  of  your  countrymen,  who,  when  I 
slept,  knocked  my  head  about  between  them  like 
a  shuttlecock."  This  little  gentleman  was  very 
talkative,  and  afforded  us  much  amusement  at  the 
various  halting-places.  "I  am,"  he  exclaimed, 
"sixty-one  years  of  age.  I  have  been  married 
three  times,  the  last  time  to  a  Spanish  lady." 
"Mais,"  he  added,  "  nous  parlous  Fran9ais,  toujours, 
toujours,  I  have  a  son,  who  is  forty  years  old, 
and  has  a  paper  manufactory  near  Madrid.  I  hate 
Spain,  nor  do  I  like  England  neither,  *  Vive  la 
France  ! '  "  Being  stupid,  as  well  as  loquacious, 
he  paid  three  pesetas  at  Burgos  for  a  cup  of 
chocolate,  which  only  cost  me  one.  This  little 
incident  gave  him  a  text  on  which  to  discourse, 
regarding   the  villany   practised    in     Spain,    and 


258 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


everywhere  in  fact,  excepting  always  Ly  the 
**  Grande  Nation."  London  he  thought  a  ras- 
cally place,  nearly  as  bad  as  Madrid ;  and  when 
we  crossed  the  Bidassoa  he  leaped  frantically  into 
the  airj  exclaiming  "  Maintenant  je  respire ;  oui,  je 
respire  ici." 

During  our  stay  in  Madrid  two  public  convey- 
ances had  been  stopped  and  robbed  near  the  city,  one 
on  the  southern  road,  the  other  on  the  route  to 
Bayonne.  We  saw,  however,  no  banditti,  althougli 
a  great  number  of  soldiers,  both  on  foot  and  horse- 
back, looking  out  for  them.  The  highwaymen 
generally  attack  the  malle-poste,  in  hopes  of 
obtaining  specie. 

The  sun  rose  as  we  were  traversing  the  treeless 
plain  on  which  stands  the  capital ;  but  for  a  long 
time  his  full  orb  was  not  visible. 

"  Sorgeva  il  novo  Sol  dai  lidi  Eoi 
Parte  gih  fuor,  m  '1  piu  nell'  onde  chiuso."  • 

And  before  the  day  had  far  advanced  we  began  to 
ascend  the  spurs  of  the  Guadarama  Mountains, 
the  highest  peaks  of  which,  covered  with  snow, 
rose  majestically  between  us  and  Valladolid.     For 

•  Tasso'a  "  Jeruaalein  Delivered," 


SOMOSIERRA. 


259 


several  hours  we  slowly  pursued  our  way  on  the 
rugged  Sierra,  over  which  a  strong  wind  was 
blowing,  rendering  desolation  still  more  dreary. 
All  around  us  we  beheld  a  waste  of  stones,  nearly 
destitute  of  vegetation,  enlivened  by  a  few  poor  vil- 
lages witli  their  half-cultivated  fields.  Toward  the 
west  the  view  terminated  in  a  perpendicular  range 
of  rocky  mountains,  the  cliffs  of  which  seemed 
about  to  descend  like  avalanches  on  the  winding 
road.  Descending  from  this  inhospitable  region  we 
crossed  the  Lozoya  at  the  curious  walled  village  of 
Buitrago,  and  then  began  our  toilsome  journey  up 
the  Pass  of  Somosierra,  which  separates  the  great 
valley  of  the  Tagus  from  that  of  the  Douro.  On 
the  summit,  where  we  changed  horses,  are  two 
little  rivulets  within  a  few  feet  of  each  other ;  but 
the  one  flows  into  the  former,  the  other  into  the 
latter  river.  Here,  in  1808,  twelve  thousand 
cowardly  Spaniards,  ordered  to  defend  against 
Napoleon  tliis,  the  gate  of  Madrid,  ran  away  at 
the  first  charge  of  the  Polish  Lancers,  whom  the 
Emperor  had  ordered  to  force  a  passage. 

Advancing  into  a  rich  but  uninteresting  plain, 
we   supped  on  viands  swimming  in  oil,  at    the 


260 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


BURGOS. 


261 


Castilian  posada,  near  Araiida,  on  the  Douro. 
I  fell  sound  asleep  after  we  again  started,  and 
when  I  awoke  next  morning  the  three  towers  of 
Burgos  Cathedral  were  in  sight.  This  ancient 
citj,  the  former  capital  of  Castile,  stands  on  the 
river  Arlanzon.  It  once  contained  50,000  people ; 
but  has  now  only  12,000  inhabitants.  Above  it 
rises  a  rock,  crowned  by  a  very  strong  castle, 
before  which  the  Duke  of  Wellington  received  a 
check  after  his  victory  at  Salamanca.  The 
Cathedral,  a  splendid  Gothic  pile,  rich  in  wood 
carving  and  sculpture,  has  been,  both  for  its 
interior  and  exterior  decoration,  justly  celebrated 
among  the  churches  of  Europe.  The  choir,  as  is 
frequently  the  case  in  Spanish  edifices,  occupies 
too  much  space.  The  porches  deserve  attention 
for  the  remarkable  beauty  of  their  architectural 
ornaments,  while  the  statuary  in  the  apse  enjoys 
an  unrivalled  reputation.  In  the  sacristia  is  the 
famous  ''  Cofre  del  Cid,"  which  that  great  leader 
of  Spanish  chivalry  filled  with  sand,  and  telling 
the  Jews  that  it  contained  gold  and  jewels, 
borrowed  from  them  on  the  faith  of  it  money  to 
carry  on  his  enterprises. 


I 


I 


You  enter  Burgos  from  Madrid  by  a  new  suburb, 
a  row  of  modern  houses  built  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  and  then  crossing  the  stream  arrive  at  the 
curious  old  gate  of  the  city.  The  diligence  stops 
in  a  large  square  with  piazzas  all  round,  which  has 
changed  its  name,  no  one  knows  how  many  times ; 
for  the  Spaniards,  like  the  French,  alter  the  titles 
of  their  principal  streets  on  every  vicissitude  of 
government. 

The  traffic  on  the  northern  highway  is  great; 
we  met  a  multitude  of  mules  and  wagons.  I  was 
struck  not  only  during  that  journey,  but  in  other 
parts  of  Spain,  with  the  number  of  deformed 
people.  The  absence  of  hands  seemed  common  ; 
and  at  various  places,  strong  and  otherwise  healthy 
persons,  having  this  defect,  solicited  charity  from 
me.  The  day  we  left  Burgos  being  a  festival,  we 
observed  the  people  in  the  morning  flocking  to  the 
village  churches,  and  in  the  afternoon  standing  in 
groups  at  the  doors  of  the  posadas  and  in  the 
market-places.  Passing  the  town  of  Bri\'iesca, 
and  driving  along  a  bare  plain,  we  turned  sharply 
to  the  left  and  entered  the  defile  of  Porta  Augusta, 
flanked  by  rocks  from  six  to  eight  hundred  feet  high, 


262 


THE   TAG  US  AND   THE   TIBER. 


between  which  the  river  Oroncillo  forces  a  passage 
so  narrow  tliat  in  one  place  the  road  has  been  built 
on  buttresses  overhanging  the  stream. 

The  evening  proved  beautiful,  and  the  sun  slione 
brilliantly  on  the  mountains  as  we  descended  to 
the  valley  of  the  Ebro.  A  slight  breeze  shook 
the  now  yellow  leaves  of  the  walnut,  elm,  and 
poplar-trees  which  lined  the  road  ;  and  hidalgos  on 
fiery  little  horses  ;  farmers  on  mules,  and  dressed 
in  brown  cloaks  and  bonnets  of  light  blue  cloth ; 
women  on  donkeys,  having  their  hair  plaited  in 
long  queues  reaching  far  down  their  backs,  and 
their  heads  covered  with  red  kerchiefs,  —  rode 
briskly  along  the  highway,  returning  from  the 
little  town  of  Miranda.  The  effects  of  light  and 
shade  on  the  hills  were  very  beautiful ;  and  when 
w^e  entered  the  market  square  of  the  above  place, 
we  found  the  inhabitants  enjoying  the  delicious 
atmosphere.  The  principal  street  was  filled  with 
stalls,  on  which  vegetables,  especially  capsicums 
and  tomatoes,  were  exposed  for  sale.  Seldom  have 
I  seen  more  lovely  women  than  tliose  bright-eyed, 
laughing  Spanish  maids,  who  seemed  not  insen- 
sible to  the  admiration  audibly  expressed  by  the 


THE   BASQUE   PROVINCES. 


263 


occupants   of   the    diligence   during   its    stay    in 
Miranda. 

Crossing  the  deep  and  rapid  Ebro  by  a  stone 
bridge,  we  passed  the  barrier  and  custom-houses 
of  Castile,  and  entered  tlie  Basque  provinces.     The 
Basques  are  a  race  of  hardy  independent  moun- 
taineers, distinct  in  language,  feelings,  and  customs 
from  the  inhabitants  of  the  plains.     They  live  on 
the  produce  of  their   own   small    farms,  and  are 
miserable  when  absent  from    home.      Maize   has 
long  been  their  staple  article  of  food.     These  men 
were  the  chief  supporters  of  Don  Carios  in  the 
late  war ;  but  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
they  adopted  his  cause  because  they  believed  him 
to  be  their  rightful  sovereign.     The  motive  which 
induced  them  to  take  his  side  w^as  liatred  to  the 
ministers  who,  after  Ferdinand's  death,  abolislied 
their  national  fueros,  or  ancient  pri\dleges,  granted 
more  than  a  thousand  years  before,  and  to  preserve 
which  every  king  of  Spain,  as  Lord  of  Biscay, 
swore  on  his  accession  to  the  throne. 

In  a  former  work*  I  endeavoured  to  trace  the 
history  of  the  feud  which  lately  broke  out  between 

•  "Impressions  of  Central  and  Southern  Europe." 


2CA 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


the  Austrian  government  and  tlic  people  of  Ilun- 
gary,  and  to  show  tlie  righteous  nature  of  that 
cause  on  which  Kossuth's  unexampled  speeches 
have  since  thrown  such  a  flood  of  light.  Very 
similar  to  the  grievances  which  have  for  ever 
alienated  from  the  perjured  house  of  Ilapsburg  the 
affections  of  their  noblest  subjects  are  those  which 
threw  the  Basques  into  the  arms  of  Don  Carlos. 
Unable  to  distinguish  between  men  and  measures, 
they  embraced  the  first  opportunity  which  pre- 
sented itself  of  overthrowing  the  rulers  who  be- 
trayed them;  and  perhaps,  like  the  Hungarians, 
they  will  yet  rise  in  strength  to  take  ample  ven- 
geance. 

The  fueros  gave  the  people  the  regulation  of  the 
taxes  and  militia,  freed  them  from  conscription, 
and  guaranteed  their  independence  of  the  custom- 
house annoyances  of  Castile.  These  mountaineers 
did  not  recognise  that  principle  of  centralisation 
which  has  become  an  absolute  mania  with  the 
governors  of  Europe.  Each  partido,  or  district, 
with  its  alcaldes  and  curas,  acted  in  its  own  matters 
without  the  control  of  higher  officials,  either  lay 
or  clerical.     They  were  municipal  bodies,  totally 


BATTLE   OF   VITTORIA. 


265 


opposed  to  that  bureaucratic  system,  whose  sup- 
porters are  impelling,  not  one  but  many,  European 
governments  towards  perils  which  may  convulse 
the  entire  framework  of  society. 

Continuing  our  journey,  we  ascended  the  banks 
of  a  river  which,  swollen  and  muddy  from  recent 
rains,  was  ovei-flowing  lields  and  plantations.     The 
hills  in  Biscay  are  much  greener  than  the   bare 
elevations  of  Castile,  and  remind  one  forcibly  of 
Switzerland.     We  now  approached  classic  ground, 
the  scene  of  that  brilliant  achievement  of  our  war- 
rior Duke,  when,  forcing  Soult  from  his  position,  he 
drove  the  Frencli  army  headlong  across  the  passes  of 
the  Pyrenees.    Perhaps  no  enterprise  in  the  history 
of  the  Peninsular  War  awakens  more  strongly  in 
the  mind  of  a  Briton  liis  feelings  of  pride  and  pa- 
triotism than  the  Battle  of  Yittoria,  the  memora- 
ble engagements  around  that  little  town,  the  last  on 
Spanish  ground  which  has  given  its  name  to  one 
of  Wellington's  victories. 

Two  extremely  pretty  girls  who  waited  at  the 
supper-table  in  tlie  Posada  of  this  flourishing 
place  amused  themselves  very  much  with  our 
English  and  French  conversation.     Darkness  had 

VOL.  I.  jf 


266 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


obscured  the  scenery  before  we  again  started. 
Some  hours  afterwards  I  was  roused  by  a  crash 
and  a  Babel  of  voices.  Looking  out  of  the  window, 
I  observed  at  a  sharp  comer  of  a  narrow  street  we 
had  come  in  contact  with  a  huge  diligence  proceed- 
ing towards  Madrid.  Then  followed  such  a  time 
of  talking,  advising,  remonstrating,  disputing,  and 
lighting  of  matches  as  one  passes  only  in  Spain. 
An  English  driver,  by  turning  the  pole  a  foot  to 
the  right,  and  at  the  same  time  holding  his  team 
well  together,  while  he  suddenly  applied  the  whip, 
would  have  cleared  our  vehicle  in  a  moment,  as 
nothing  was  fast,  and  there  was  room  enough  for 
the  manoeuvre.  Perceiving  this,  I  exhorted  the 
chattering  crew  to  do  so,  but  a  French  lady  in  the 
interior  of  the  other  diligence  instantly  called  out, 
"  Non,  non,  nous  ne  pouvons  pas  avancer — con- 
ducteur,  conducteur,  nous  descendrons." 

At  length  they  did  as  I  had  directed,  having, 
however,  previously  taken  out  all  the  mules  save 
the  wheelers ;  a  bump  which  sadly  terrified  the 
Frenchwoman  followed,  and  we  were  free.  This 
happened  about  ten  yards  from  the  changing-place, 
and  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes  when  I  saw  the 


ASCENT   OF   THE   PYRENEES. 


267 


fellows  actually  reyoke  the  leaders  to  draw  us  this 
distance,  instead  of  attaching  the  new  team !  Cosa 
Espana !    Well  may  travellers  thus  exclaim ! 

We  were  now  at  the  foot  of  that  lofty  spur  from 
the  Pyrenees  which  ends  at  Cape  Finisterre.  Two 
mules  and  eight  cream-coloured  oxen  dragged  us 
at  a  creeping  pace  up  the  ascent,  and  when  day- 
light dawned  next  morning  we  had  almost  reached 
Tolosa,  a  curious  old  town  of  5,000  inhabitants, 
capital  of  Guipiscoa,  situated  at  the  base  of  green 
hills,  on  the  rapid  river  Oria.  We  then  entered  a 
Swiss-like  country,  with  crops  of  Indian  corn  and 
turnips,  neat  chalets  with  ornamented  roofs,  sub- 
stantial houses,  factories,  foundries,  and  even  mills, 
all  evidences  of  a  more  industrious  and  enterprising 
people  than  the  inhabitants  of  Andalucia,  Granada, 
and  Castile.  The  drive  down  the  valley  of  the  Oria 
reminded  me  very  much  of  the  canton  Berne. 
Crowds  of  peasants,  the  men  in  blue  bonnets 
shaped  like  those  formerly  worn  in  Scotland,  the 
women  barefooted,  and  with  long  plaited  pig-tails, 
were  going  with  produce  to  Tolosa. 

After  changing  horses  at  Andaoin,  we  passed 
through  a  wooded  defile,  where  the  river  forces  its 

N  2 


268 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


way  "between  rocks,  in  a  series  of  rapids,  then 
crossed  the  elevation  on  tlie  right,  and  tumino- 
round  a  corner,  suddenly  came  in  siglit  of  the  sea 
at  St.  Sebastian.  This  town  is  most  picturesquely 
situated  on  a  narrow  isthmus,  communicating  on 
the  side  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay  with  a  rocky  hill 
four  hundred  feet  high,  crowned  by  a  castle  famous 
in  the  annals  of  ancient  and  modem  warfare.  A 
similar  but  lower  hill  forms  an  island  near  it. 
Looking  at  them  from  the  landward  side,  the 
batteries,  church,  and  lofty  houses,  have  a  very 
striking  effect.  Passing  under  tlirce  rickety-look- 
ing gateways,  guarded  by  dirty  soldiers,  we  stopped 
and  breakfasted  at  tlie  Posada — our  last  meal  in 
Spain.  Here  our  passports  had  to  be  examined 
by  the  authorities,  as  they  had  been  before  at 
Burgos,  Vittoria,  and  Tolosa. 

The  day  being  sunny  and  fine  we  enjoyed  the 
drive  from  St.  Sebastian  to  Irun,  by  tlie  picturesque 
arm  of  the  sea  called  Passages,  which  has  quite 
the  appearance  of  a  fresh-water  lake,  and  somewhat 
resembles  the  Bosphorus,  as  its  antique  houses, 
"backed  by  steep  hills,  rise  almost  out  of  the  water. 
Gaining  the  top  of  a  rising  ground,  we  beheld  a 


ST,  JEAN   DE   LUZ. 


269 


varied  prospect.  Xcar  the  spot  where  the  Bidassoa 
entered  the  sea  was  Fuenterrabia,  on  an  eminence 
looking  across  to  France;  further  up  the  river, 
occupying  the  slope  of  a  hill,  we  saw  Irun,  and 
beyond  it  the  bridge,  with  the  custom-houses  of 
the  two  countries  on  either  side  of  it. 

At  Irun  we  changed  our  team  of  mules  for  one 
of  six  white  horses,  and  had  our  passports  viseed. 
These  documents  had  again  to  be  produced  at  the 
Spanish  end  of  the  bridge,  and  as  soon  as  we 
reached  French  ground  our  baggage  underwent  the 
usual  custom-house  examination.  Continuing  our 
journey,  and  ascending  the  heights,  we  had  a  fine 
view  of  the  mouth  of  the  Bidassoa,  the  towns  of 
Irun  and  Fuentcn-abia,  the  wooded  elevations  with 
their  chalets  and  maize-fields,  and  the  peaks  of  the 
more  distant  Pyrenees. 

The  first  place  we  came  to  in  France  was  the 
clean  seaport  of  St.  Jean  de  Luz.*  We  had  left 
behind  the  bare  brown  fields,  the  mud  hovels  and 
filth  of  Spain,  to  enter  apparently  a  different  world, 


•  In  1814,  English  merchants  sent  cargoes  of  every  kind  into 
this  harbour,  to  supply  the  army  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
then  enaimped  in  the  vicinity. 


270 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


BANKS  OF  THE  ADOUE. 


271 


the  seat  of  industry  and  civilization ;  green  parks, 
well-tilled  fields,  and  substantial  houses  refreshed 
our  eyes,  and  enabled  us  almost  to  s;)Tnpathise 
with  our  friend,  the  lively  little  Frenchman,  in  the 
"  interieur."  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  we 
drove  over  the  drawbridges  of  Bayonne,  and  soon 
afterwards  were  comfortably  lodged  in  the  Hotel 
St.  Etienne. 

This  city  is  a  first-class  fortress,  guarding  one 
of  the  two  great  roads  into  Spain,  situated  chiefly 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rive,  at  the  point  of  its 
junction  with  the  broad  Adour.  A  part  of  the 
town  occupies  the  peninsula  between  the  two 
rivers,  and  is  connected  by  a  handsome  bridge, 
with  a  suburb  on  the  right  bank  of  the  latter; 
further  down  which,  on  an  elevation,  stands  the 
citadel,  the  scene  of  the  last  conflict  betv^xen  the 
British  and  French  during  the  Peninsular  War. 
Soult  having  heard  of  Napoleon's  abdication,  had 
asked  and  obtained  a  suspension  of  arms;  but 
during  the  night  his  troops  made  a  murderous 
sally,  which,  though  repulsed,  cost  the  lives  of 
eight  hundred  and  thirty  Englishmen. 

Opposite  this  stronghold,  extending  for  a  mile 


along  the  river,  is  a  very  pretty  public  walk.  On 
this  promenade  we  took  a  stroll  the  evening  of  the 
day  after  our  arrival,  when,  as  not  a  cloud  appeared 
in  the  heavens,  the  upper  classes  had  congregated, 
''tomar  al  fresco."  How  singular  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  beautiful  dresses  of  the  ladies,  and  those 
hideous,  ill-shaped  uniforms  worn  by  the  military 
of  France.  Dingy  dark  blue  coats,  and  trousers 
of  a  colour  midway  between  scarlet  and  brown, 
would  disfigure  the  best-looking  men  in  the  world, 
without  the  addition  of  clothes  made  to  fit  people 
of  twice  their  circumference.  If  the  French  know 
how  to  blend  colours,  certainly  they  do  not  display 
their  usual  taste  in  the  attire  of  their  soldiers. 

The  banks  of  the  Adour,  below  Bayonne,  are 
very  pretty.  Sand-hills  covered  with  wood  rise 
above  the  blue  waters,  and  small  craft  may  be 
always  seen  sailing  up  and  down  the  stream. 
From  the  end  of  the  promenade  ground  we  had  a 
fine  view  of  the  vicinity.  Before  us,  peeping  out 
of  a  clump  of  trees  like  the  spire  of  an  English 
village  church,  was  the  tower  of  the  cathedral, 
the  town   being   nearly  hidden   by   the   foliage; 


272 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


BRIDGE  OVER  THE  GARONNE. 


273 


elegant   arches   spanned   the   river,  and   between 
them  and  our  position  lay  at  anchor  several  vessels, 
including  a  smart  man-of-war  steamer.     On  our 
left,   embowered  in  woods,  the  citadel  displayed 
the  tricoloured  flag  of  the  Republic ;  on  our  right 
we  could  see  the  mountains  near  Irun,  the  three 
tops  of  the  Trois  Couronncs   being  conspicuous; 
whilst  in  the  far  distance,  beyond  Bayonne,  illu- 
minated by  the  rays  of  tlie  setting  sun,  rose  the 
snowy  peaks  of  the  Pyrenees.     It  struck  me  as  a 
landscape  such  as  Claude  alone  could  have  trans- 
fen-cd  to  canvas,  and  Turner  converted  into  a  very 
paradise. 

At  six  o'clock  next  morning  we  took  our  places 
in  the  ''interieur"  of  the  diligence  about  to  start 
for  Paris  via  Bordeaux,  and  who  should  we  find 
seated  there  before  us  but  the  lively  old  French- 
man who  had  journeyed  with  us  from  Macbid. 
Extensive  forests  of  cork-trees,  the  bark  of  which 
is  stripped  off  all  round  the  stem,  to  supply  the 
wine-merchants  on  the  Garonne,  occur  on  this 
road.  The  bark  soon  grows  again  after  being  cut; 
but  the  operation  gives  the  tree  a  peculiar  appear- 


ance. There  arc  also  numerous  plantations  of  fir- 
trees,  similarly  cut,  but  not  for  the  w^hole  circum- 
ference, in  order  to  extract  rosin. 

Having  done  justice  to  a  sumptuous  repast  at 
Mont  de  Marsan,  on  the  Medaize,  capital  of  the 
department  of  the  Landes,  we  entered  gloomy 
woods,  more  wintry  in  their  aspect  as  wx  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  north,  the  leaves  of  which  were 
falling  in  showers. 

Next  morning  we  arrived  at  Bordeaux,  one  of 
the  handsomest  as  well  as  the  most  flourishing: 
cities  in  France.  It  has  a  quay  extending  for 
three  miles  along  the  broad  Garonne,  the  water  up 
to  which  is  so  deep  that  ships  of  twelve  hundred 
tons  are  there  moored.  A  bridge  of  seventeen 
arches,  more  than  fifteen  hundred  feet  long,  con- 
nects the  town  with  the  villas  and  vineyards  on 
the  opposite  bank.  A  few  miles  further  on  the 
road  crosses  the  Dordogne  by  a  "  pont  suspendu," 
2,952  feet  in  length,  and  93  in  height,  one  of  the 
greatest  works  in  Europe. 

We  left  Bordeaux  very  early  in  the  morning, 
and  about  mid-day  the  passengers  in  the  diligence 
began  to  get  hungry;  the  little  Frenchman,  who 

n3 


274 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE  TIBER. 


still  travelled  with  us,  especially  felt  the  pangs 
of  an  unsatisfied  appetite,  and  as  they  became 
stronger  and  stronger,  he  applied  increasingly 
violent  epithets  of  abuse  to  the  conductor,  Messrs. 
Lafitte,  Caillard  &  Co.  and  all  concerned,  for  their 
cruelty  to  travellers — "disgusting"  and  "piggish" 
being  the  mildest  of  these  terms. 

At  length  we  stopped  at  an  inn,  somewhat 
inviting  in  its  appearance,  and  the  old  man  felt 
sure  that  his  troubles  were  over.  But  no,  the 
object  of  the  halt  was  only  to  afford  the  conductor 
time  to  take  a  glass  of  wine.  This  was  too  much 
for  frail  humanity  to  endure;  so  the  fat  gentleman, 
who  had  been  for  some  hours  requesting  us  to 
remonstrate,  as  he  cared  not  to  do  so  himself, 
mustering  all  his  courage,  roared  out  in  a  tone  of 
injured  innocence,  mixed  with  ill-concealed  wrath, 
"Conducteur,  conducteur,  h  quelle  heure  est-ce  que 
vous  dinez?"  "A  trois  heures,"  replied  the  interro- 
gated in  the  mildest  and  most  conciliator}'  manner 
possible.  The  "soft  answer"  not  only  "turned 
away  wrath,"  but  for  a  moment  deprived  the 
wrathful  man  of  utterance ;  instantly  disai*med — 
for  he  had  prepared  a  furious  declamatory'  attack 


FRENCH   MANNERS. 


275 


on  the  official— our  hero  seemed  at  a  loss  for  a 
rejoinder.  At  length,  to  the  infinite  amusement  of 
all  present,  he  stammered,  "  Merci,  merci  bien,  mon- 
sieur." This  garrulous  individual  was  a  true  repre- 
sentative of  French  manners.  "Mercis"  were  never 
out  of  his  mouth;  his  shoulders  seemed  bent  from 
incessant  bowing,  and  at  home  or  in  a  "  Chemin 
de  Fer  du  Nord"  first-class  can-iage,  he  might 
liave  delighted  a  cockney  by  his  afifability— yet  he 
swallowed  his  coffee  at  Bordeaux  in  a  great  hurry, 
professedly  to  get  the  best  seat  in  the  vehicle, 
before  my  wife  arrived  at  the  coach-office,  and 
when  a  Basque  man  remonstrated  with  him  for 
conduct  so  ungallant,  he  replied  tliat  politeness 
was  all  very  well  when  it  cost  nothing,  but  it 
should  never  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  one's 
}Xirsonal  comfort.  This  remark  affords  the  tme 
key  to  the  feelings  of  the  French. 

Dr.  Johnson  said  of  Mr.  Langton,  "  Sir,  he  has 
no  grimace,  no  gesticulation,  no  bursts  of  admiration 
on  trivial  occasions ;  he  never  embraces  you  with 
overacted  cordiality."  Our  neighbours  have  all 
these  things,  and  if  politeness  be  playacting,  they 
eminently  deserve  credit  for  the  virtue ;   but  let 


276 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


any  Englishman  of  observation  and  gentlemanly 
education,  who  knows  somewhat  more  of  travelling 
in  France  than  chance  visitors  to  Paris,  be  asked 
his  opinion  of  the  national  manners,  and  he  will 
tell  you  that  nowhere  else  in  Europe  has  he  met 
with  such  rudeness  as  in  the  public  conveyances 
of  that  country,  the  inhabitants  of  which,  by  some 
strange  mental  hallucination,  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  style  preeminently  "  polite/' 

I  have  seen  educated  men  conduct  themselves, 
on  the  roads  between  Geneva  and  Paris,  between 
Bayonne  and  Tours,  between  Marseilles  and 
Lyons,  in  a  manner  that  would  have  disgraced 
ia  coal-heaver  on  the  Thames ;  and  men  of  far 
more  experience  than  I,  have  told  me  of  scenes 
in  France,  on  which  weavers  in  England,  or 
back-woodsmen  in  America,  would  have  called 
**  shame." 

But  to  return  to  the  narrative.  "  Trois  heures" 
came,  and  ''quatres  heures"  also,  but  still  no  signs 
of  anything  to  eat,  and  our  patience  was  nearly 
exhausted,  when  at  five  o'clock  we  sat  down  to 
table  in  the  picturesque  town  of  Angouleme,  situ- 
ated on  a  liill  two  hundred  feet  above  the  river 


ARRIVAL  AT   POICTIERS. 


277 


Charente.  As  daylight  dawned  on  the  morrow, 
we  drove  into  Poictiers,  where  Edward  the  Black 
Prince  routed  the  chivalry  of  France,  and  where 
many  years  before  Charles  Martel  had  proved  to 
Abdehramen  that  the  armies  of  the  crescent  liad 
reached  the  zenith  of  their  fame. 


CHAPTER  XIT. 


THE    MONTH    OP    MAT— LAUSANNE    AND   THE    LAKE    OF   GENEVA 

AGRICULTURE  OF  THE  CANTON  DE  VAUD — PRIESTCRAFT  IN  THE 
VALLAIS — SION— MIRACULOUS  ESCAPE  OF  OUR  DILIGENCE  AND 
ITS    PASSENGERS— AWFUL    SCENE— JOURNEY   IN    CHARS-A-BANC— 

REACH    BRIEG — ASCENT    OF    THE    SIMPLON  —  THE    ROAD THE 

GLACIERS  —  THE  GALLERIES — VISIT  TO  THE  HOSPICE — DREARY 
PROSPECT— GRANDEUR  OP  THE  MOUNTAINS— SARDINIAN  FRON- 
TIER—VIEW FROM  THE  HEIGHTS  ABOVE  DOMO  d'oSSOLA— THE 
L.VGO  MAGGIORE— LOVELY  SCENERY — THE  BREEZES  OF  ITALY 
—  ARONA  —  SESTO  CALENDE  —  AN  AUSTRIAN  CUSTOM-HOUSE 
EXAMINATION — ARRIVAL  AT  MILAN. 


The  advent  of  the  month  of  ]\ray  lias  for  many 
ages  been  celebrated  by  the  nations  with  feasting 
and  song.  The  Romans  then  at  the  command  of 
the  Sibylline  oracle  invoked  divine  protection  to 
the  blossom,  and  wherever  their  cohorts  advanced 
they  spared  no  pains  to  render  the  great  days  of 
the  Floralia  a  season  of  games  and  gladness.  A 
like  custom  prevailed  in  Northern  Europe  from 


THE   MONTH   OF   MAY. 


279 


the  remotest  times,  and  although  now  we  may  see 
neither  processions  nor  festivals,  we  hail  the  May- 
pole as  an  antepast  of  summer,  the  rosebud  which 
will  shortly  blossom  and  fill  the  air  with  fragrance. 
Then  the  days  are  long  and  lengthening,  fleecy 
clouds  shelter  the  verdure  and  gentle  showers  fall 
during  darkness  to  refresh  and  beautify  the  face  of 
nature.  Any  one  fond  of  travelling  will  at  that 
time  experience  the  "  thirst  to  be  away,"  to  pass  as 
many  as  possible  of  those  precious  hours  in  com- 
muning with  the  w^orks  of  God  displayed  in  river, 
mountain,  plain,  and  sea.  The  spring  of  1851 
had  not  far  advanced  when  I  thought  of  Italy, 
and  felt 


(( 


A  yearning  for  its  sunny  sky." 


In  these  days  of  rapid  locomotion,  a  visit  to  any 
part  of  Europe  can  easily  be  accomplished,  and  in 
less  than  a  week  after  lea\4ng  London,  having 
travelled  by  Belgium,  the  Rhine  and  Berne,  I 
found  myself  once  more  enjoying  that  charming 
prospect  w^hich  enchants  the  stranger  from  the 
terrace  of  the  public  promenade  at  Lausanne. 

*  Waiis'  Melanie. 


280 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


Beneath  me  lay  vineyards  eniLosomed  in  eliest- 
nut,  walnut,  and  elm-trees,  and  extending  as  far 
as  Oucliy,  the  little  port  where  the  steamers  call 
for  passengers  on  their  way  to  and  from  Yilleneuve ; 
beyond,  the  calm  blue  lake  of  Geneva  reposed  as 
tranquilly  as  a  sleeping  child,  its  mirror-like  waters 
reflecting  here  and  there  the  latine  sails  which 
fishermen  had  in  vain  hoisted  to  catch  a  passing 
breeze,  and  the  dark  mountains  of  Savoy  towards 
whose  summits  the  mists  of  the  morning  were 
slowly  rising.  Sometimes  the  vapours  revealed 
majestic  precipices  of  rock;  at  others,  wooded 
slopes  enlivened  by  a  few  scattered  villages. 

On  my  right  the  Juras  and  hills  above  the 
Rhone  were  distinctly  visible,  with  the  fertile 
fields  of  the  Canton  de  Yaud  in  the  foreground ; 
while  on  my  left  rose  the  mighty  peaks  which 
impend  over  Vevay  and  Chillon,  and  all  of  which 
seem  to  do  obeisance  to  the  Dent  de  Midi,  whose 
eternal  snows  guard  the  entrance  to  the  Vallais. 
It  was  one  of  those  glorious  views  which  cannot 
well  be  described  so  as  to  convey  a  just  idea  to  the 
mind  of  a  Briton  who  has  not  journeyed  abroad, 
for   much   as    I   admire   the   mountain   and    lake 


CANTON   DE   VAUD. 


281 


scenery  in  our  own  island,  it  cannot  be  named  in 
the  same  breath  with  that  among  the  Alps,  and  on 
the  shores  of  those  blue  waters  which  reflect  the 
"  Palaces  of  Xature." 

Standing  on  the  balcony  of  the  Hotel  Gibbon, 
the  classic  spot  where  the  great  historian  finished 
his  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  and 
contemplating  the  clifl's  and  glaciers,  the  blooming 
fields  and  sparkling  sea  before  him,  one  feels  the 
grandeur  of  creation,  and  sympathises  with  the 
sentiment  of  that  writer,  when  speaking  of  the 
magnificence  of  St.  Sophia  he  exclaims,  "  Yet 
how  dull  is  the  artifice,  how  insignificant  is  the 
labour,  if  it  be  compared  with  the  formation  of 
the  vilest  insect  that  crawls  upon  the  face  of  the 
temple."* 

Our  destination  being  Milan,  we  engaged  the 
cabriolet  of  the  light  diligence  which  crosses  the 
Simplon.  No  one  who  has  travelled  through  the 
Canton  de  Yaud  can  forget  the  beautifully  kept 
vineyards  which  overhang  the  lake  between  Yevay 
and  Lausanne,  or  the  industrious  peasantry,  who 

•  Gibbon's  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  vol.  v 
p.  90. 


1 


282 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE   TIBER. 


PRIESTCRAFT   IN   THE   VALLAIS. 


283 


have  converted  that  rocky  soil  into  a  garden  of 
delights.  Sometimes  the  road  passes  between  care- 
fully built  walls,  the  abode  of  myriads  of  lizards, 
over  which  peep  the  tendrils  of  the  vine,  or  the 
waving  tops  of  maize  ;  at  others  it  commands  a 
view  of  the  blue  waters  and  tlie  fishermen  partak- 
ing, in  their  picturesque  boats,  of  a  frugal  mid-day 
meal. 

At  the  charming  towm  of  Yevay  we  were  joined 
by  a  party  of  Brunswickers,  on  their  way  to  the 
Lago  Maggiorc.  Enjoying  the  ever  varying  pro- 
spects of  the  Savoy  hills,  and  the  fragrance  of 
fruit  blossom  and  new  mown  hay,  we  drove  along 
the  margin  of  the  lake,  past  scenes  amidst  which 
I  had  spent  a  week  or  two  seven  years  before. 
The  churchyard  of  Montreux,  the  "  Pension  '*  at 
Veytaux,  the  castle  of  Chillon,  the  wooded  banks 
and  tumbling  brooks — all  were  unchanged,  for  no 
manufactories  or  railroads  disturb  those  quiet 
spots  which  Byron  and  Rousseau  have  combined 
to  celebrate. 

Leaving  the  vineyards  of  de  Vaud,  we  reached 
the  low  marshy  land  formed  by  the  alluvial  de- 
posits  of   tlie   Rhone,   and    entered  the    Roman 


Catholic  canton  of  the  Vallais,  where  the  effects  of 
priestly  influence  appear  in  the  inferior  agriculture, 
the  wretched  houses,  and  the  general  aspect  of 
discomfort,  which  contrast  so  unfavourably  with 
the  state  of  things  in  the  Protestant  districts 
adjoining.  From  no  quarter  have  the  federal  go- 
vernment met  with  gi'cater  opposition  to  their 
educational  and  other  liberal  measures  than  from 
the  ecclesiastics  who  sit  in  conclave  in  Sion  to 
oppose  the  civil  and  religious  advancement  of  the 
people.  Already  these  abettors  of  ignorance  have 
involved  the  province  in  civil  war;  and  when 
I  formerly  resided  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Leman, 
it  was  raging  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone. 

Passing  through  a  forest  of  walnut-trees,  in  full 
view  of  the  snows  of  the  Little  St.  Bernard,  we 
crossed  the  river  at  the  deep  gorge,  where  under 
lofty  rocks  stands  the  village  of  St.  Maurice.  The 
conducteur,  who  had  hitherto  occupied  the  seat 
beside  us  in  the  cabriolet,  here  gave  his  place  to 
one  of  the  gentlemen  from  Brunswick,  who,  in  bad 
French,  asked  me  if  I  w^ere  an  Englishman.  I  re- 
plied, **  Non,  Monsieur,  je  suis  Ecossais.^'  This 
answer  completely  puzzled  him,  as  I  have  seen  it 


284 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


do  many  more  besides,  for  Scotland  seems  a  "  terra 
incognita  "  abroad. 

After  a  pause,  he  rejoined,  "  Mais  voiis  parlez 
Anglais  un  peu  ?  "  On  my  assenting,  lie  joyfully 
remarked  that  as  we  both  knew  ''  Ainglish  a 
leetle,"  we  might  now  and  then  converse.  At 
Martigny,  where  the  footpaths  over  the  Tete  Noire 
and  Col  de  Balme  to  Chamouni  join  the  Simplon 
road,  we  began  to  traverse  a  poor,  badly  tilled 
district  where  miserable  houses  and  more  miserable 
looking  people  attest  the  general  poverty.  Sion, 
the  capital  of  the  canton,  occupies  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  situations  in  Switzerland ;  three  castles 
on  the  tops  of  as  many  hills,  and  several  large 
churches,  having  a  very  imposing  appearance. 
Here  we  rested  for  supper,  and  it  was  half-past 
ten  o'clock  before  we  again  started.  I  soon  fell 
asleep,  little  imagining  the  scene  which  we  were 
about  to  witness,  or  the  extremity  of  the  danger  to 
which  we  were  so  soon  to  be  exposed. 

At  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  was  awakened 
by  a  crash  and  a  tremulous  motion.  Thinking 
that  we  had  run  against  a  wagon,  I  kept  my  seat, 
but  in  a  minute  or  two  the  driver  turned  towards 


MIRACULOUS   ESCAPE. 


285 


the  lamp  a  countenance  on  which  ten-or  was  so 
legibly  written,  that  T  instantly  opened  the  door 
and  sprung  out.  ''  For  God's  sake.  Sir,  take  care," 
shouted  the   conductor,   who,  seated  on   the  box 
beside   the    coachman,    with    one   hand   held   the 
wheel-horses  on  their  haunches,  while  with  the 
other  lie  finnly  pressed  the  handle  of  the  drag. 
It  was  a  pitchy  dark  night,  the  sides  of  the  road 
being  invisible  excepting  Avhere  the  lamps  shone. 
Beside  me  the  driver,  his  teeth  chattering  with 
fright,   could  say  nothing  but  ''  Oh,  mon  Dieu." 
I  heard  somewhere  or  other  the  roaring  of  a  ton-ent, 
and  on  a  tree  near  me  a  screech-owl  added  its 
shrill  cry  to   the  voices   of  the  night.      Several 
minutes  elapsed  before  I  could  realize  the  awful 
nature  of  the  peril  which,  thanks  to  the  extraor- 
dinary presence  of  mind  displayed   by   the   con- 
ductor, we  had  almost  miraculously  escaped.    Had 
he   not   left    his  usual  place  to  sit   on   the  box, 
liumanly  speaking,  not  one  would  have  survived 
the  hour  to  narrate  the  terrible  catastrophe. 

A  wooden  suspension-bridge  seventy  feet  iii 
height,  and  spanning  a  rapid  river,  had  been  swept 
away  by  a  rise  of  waters,  consequent  on  a  thunder- 


286 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


storm  in  the  mountains.  On  the  brink  of  the 
precipice  thus  caused  we  stood,  our  leading  horse 
having  fallen  over  it  and  been  instantaneously 
killed.  Had  his  harness  been  of  stout  leather,  no 
mortal  power  could  have  saved  us ;  but  providen- 
tially he  had  been  attached  to  the  vehicle  only  by 
two  rope  traces  and  a  slight  back  strap.  The 
tremulous  motion  I  had  felt  was  the  struggle 
between  the  wheel-horses  pulled  back  by  the 
heroic  conductor,  (for  the  driver  was  powerless 
from  terror,)  and  this  unfortunate  animal,  as  it 
hung  suspended  in  middle  air  over  the  roaring 
torrent.  The  crash  was  the  recoil  of  the  vehicle, 
when  the  traces  broke  and  the  victim  fell  headlong 
into  the  abyss  below. 

Cautiously  approaching  the  brink  of  the  chasm 
we  found  the  remains  of  the  harness,  and  discovered 
the  exact  nature  of  our  situation.  I  have  travelled 
not  a  little  both  by  land  and  sea,  in  all  manner 
of  conveyances,  and  on  every  kind  of  road,  but 
such  a  scene  as  that  I  never  expect  to  witness 
again,  though  I  should  spend  the  remainder  of  my 
years  in  wandering  to  and  fro  over  the  earth. 
The  dread  hour  of  midnight,  the  solitude  of  the 


AWFUL  SCENE. 


287 


Alps,  the  rushing  of  the  river,  the  cries  of  the 
screech-owl,    the    chattering   teeth   of     the    poor 
driver,  the  sighing  of  the  wind,  the  cold  air  from 
the  glaciers,  the  terrible  nature  of  the  danger,  the 
miraculous  manner  of  escape,  combined  to  fill  my 
mind  with  an  awe,  which  returns  to  produce  a 
tremour  even  while  I  write.     It  was  one  of  those 
awful  scenes  which  solemnize  the  feelings  of  the 
most  callous,  and  remain  engraven  on  the  memory 
while  life  itself  endures.    Unenviable,  indeed,  must 
be  the  principles  of  him,  who,  after  recovering  from 
the  stunning  effects  of  a  deliverance  so  wonderful, 
can  forget  to  offer  up  his  most  hearty  thanks  to 
that  Great  Being,  to  whom  belongeth  the  issues 
from  death,  and  whose  are  all  our   ways.     Had 
the  conductor  been  inside,  had  the  harness  been 
of  leather,  had  we  attempted  to  cross  when  the 
bridge  was  sinking  instead  of  after  it  had  sunk, 
had  the  horses  been  at  a  gallop,  our  bodies  might 
even   now   have   been   buried   in   some   of  those 
rocky  caldrons  from  which  the  Ehone  struggles  to 
get  free. 

None  of  these  most  likely  contingencies  hap- 
pened ;  to  whom  shall  we  ascribe  the  praise  ?     To 


288 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


wliom   but  to  Him  who  ''  sitteth    on   the   circle 
of  the  earth  and  weigheth  the  hilk  in  a  balance?" 
And  yet,  will  it  be  believed,  two  Sardinians,  who 
had    slept    for   a    quarter   of    an   hour   after   the 
accident,    when    they   discovered    our    situation, 
began  to  curse  and  swear  in  a  manner  to  which 
it  was  awful  to  listen.     Not  till  the  other  passen- 
gers   remonstrated    with    them    for    such    daring 
impiety  did  they  cease  their  horrible  imprecations. 
On  what  ungrateful  beings  does  God  bestow  his 
preserving  mercies ! 

And  now  what  was  to  be  done  ?     The  supports 
of  the  bridge  were  still  standing,  but  the  roadway 
had   fallen   in;  so    cross   the    vehicle   could   not. 
The  stream  was  not  only  deep,  but  wide  and  rapid, 
besides  having  precipitous  banks  ;  so  fording  was 
out  of  the  question.     But  fortunately  for  us,  the 
conductor  had  p  oved  himself  a  man  equal  to  an 
emergency.     As  soon  as  we  had   recovered  from 
the  shock,  the   driver  was  sent  with  a  lamp  to 
scramble  along  the  side  rails  of  the  ruined  bridge 
and  alarm  a  village  about  half  a  mile  beyond. 
Wearily  did  the  minutes  pass  away  before,  amid 
the  darkness,  we  heard  the  cheering  cry  from  the 


JOURNEY   IN   CHARS-A-BANC. 


289 


opposite  bank,  '^  Au  secours,  au  secours."  In  a 
very  short  time  the  active  peasants  had  laid  planks 
along  the  ruins,  on  which,  one  by  one,  led  by  our 
intrepid  conductor,  we  crossed  the  stream.  Our 
trunks  and  bags  succeeded,  while  the  horses 
dragged  back  the  diligence  to  the  place  from  which 
they  had  started.  Three  hours  of  darkness  we 
spent  in  an  empty  room  of  the  village  tavern,  until 
two  chars-k-banc  arrived  from  the  nearest  post 
station  of  Tourtemagne,  whither  wx  proceeded. 

Similar  vehicles  conveyed  us  to  Yierge,  our 
baggage  meanwhile  following  in  a  cart ;  where 
again  we  changed  carriages,  before  traversing 
a  desolate  tract  covered  with  stones,  and  the  debris 
of  mountain  torrents,  which  in  some  places  had 
obliterated  all  trace  of  the  road.  Beyond  it,  at 
the  foot  of  those  tremendous  zigzags,  by  means 
of  which  Napoleon  carried  a  path  passable  for 
cannon  over  the  snowy  Simplon,  stands  the  village 
of  Brieg,  the  inhabitants  of  which  had  guessed  the 
cause  of  our  delay,  for  it  was  well  known  in  the 
Vallais  that  the  bridge  in  question  had  been  for 
some  time  insecure.     Such  shameful  neglect  should 

VOL.  I.  0 


290 


THE   TAUUb   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ROAD   OVER  THE   SIMPLON. 


291 


be  punished  with  unsparing  severity.  Whether 
owing  to  the  carelessness  of  the  surveyor,  or  the 
stinginess  of  the  cantonal  government,  it  is  a 
disgrace  to  the  country  to  expose  travellers  to  such 
unnecessary  danger. 

After  a  bad  breakfast  in  a  worse  inn,  we  began 
slowly  to  ascend  the  sweeps  by  which  the  great 
Italian  road  is  conducted  to  the  summit  of  the 
Simplon.     Six  horses  had  been  yoked  to  the  spare 
diligence,  kept  at  Brieg  in  case  of  accidents,  but 
they  progressed  at  a  creeping  pace,  for  the  sun  had 
become    very    powerful.     Passing    first    between 
green  fields  of  grass  and  com,  we  soon  entered  a 
vast  forest  of  pines,  occupying  the  apparently  per- 
pendiciUar  side  of  the  mountain.    Looking  upwards, 
you  see  no  possible  means  of  overcoming  the  diffi- 
culties which  present  themselves  to  the  engineer ; 
nevertheless,  every  turn  reveals  a  new  zigzag,  more 
skilfully  executed  than  the  preceding,  till  at  length, 
after   six    hours'   exertion,  you   reach  the    snowy 
summit.     The  vastness  of  this  undertaking   was 
worthy  of  Napoleon's  genius,  and  for  it  Europe 
will  thank  him  when  Marengo  and  Austerlitz  will 


be  regarded  as  the  bloody  exploits  of  a  barbarian 
age.* 

Three  thousand  labourers  were  employed  four 
years  in  making  this  road,  and  so  well  did  the 
scientific  men  perform  their  task,  that  a  light 
carriage  scarcely  ever  requires  a  drag  when 
descending.  The  way  is  twenty-five  feet  broad, 
and  crosses  fifty  bridges.  As  we  rose  higher 
among  tlie  pines,  we  saw  Brieg  and  the  village 
of  Naters  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhone  far  below 
us.  Beyond  the  valley  were  the  Spitzhorn  and 
the  other  peaks,  which  surround  the  passes  of 
Furca  and  Grimsel,  summits  familiar  to  me  fi'om 
other  points  of  view,  while  above  them,  in  all  their 
snowy  majesty,  towered  the  giant  mountains  of 
the  Bernese  Oberland.  Sweeping  round  the 
shoulder  of  the  hill,  we  drove  on  more  level  ground 
up  a  wild  defile,  looking  down  on  terrible  precipices, 
and   up    towards    crags    no    less    terrible,    which 

•  "  The  victories  of  Buonaparte  have  been  without  resultg ; 
but  his  road  over  the  Simplon  will  long  be  the  communiciition 
betwixt  peaceful  countries,  who  will  apply  to  the  ends  of  com- 
merce and  friendly  intercourse  that  gigantic  work  which  was 
formed  for  the  ambitious  purpose  of  warlike  invasion."— Sir  "W. 
Scott's  "Highland  Widow." 

o  2 


292 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


seemed  about  to  topple  over  and  crush  us,  a  snowy 
mountain,  with  glaciers  on  its  sides,  bounding  the 
prospect  towards  the  head  waters  of  the  torrent, 
the  local  representative  of  what  Coleridge  calls 
Mont  Blanc : 

"  A  kingly  spirit  throned  among  the  hills." 

Crossing  the  ravine  by  a  lofty  bridge,  we  as- 
cended to  the  post-station  of  Berisaal,  where  the 
diligence  changes  horses.  Here  we  got  out  of  the 
vehicle,  and  walked  for  three  hours  to  the  hospice 
on  the  summit.  For  the  first  hour-and-half  our 
way  led  still  through  pine-forests,  and  the  weather 
continued  warm;  but  gradually  the  air  became 
colder,  till,  passing  through  a  short  tunnel,  we 
entered  a  cheerless  waste  destitute  of  vegetation, 
overhung  by  the  Kaltwasser  glacier,  and  covered 
with  deep  snow.  Three  long  galleries  hewn  out 
of  the  rock,  with  sloping  roofs,  and  openings  to 
admit  the  light,  protect  this  part  of  the  road. 
Although  very  wet,  and  bitterly  cold,  we  scrambled 
through  them,  admiring  the  beautiful  stalactites 
and  waterfalls  which  they  display.  Emerging 
from  the  third  and  dreariest  of  all,  we  reached  the 


DREARY   PROSPECT. 


293 


last  of  the  refuge-houses  built  at  intervals  along 
the  route.  A  wooden  cross  only  a  short  distance 
beyond  this  marks  the  summit  of  the  Simplon 
Pass,  6,580  feet  above  the  sea. 

For  several  miles,  when  we  crossed,  although  in 
June,  the  road  passed  between  walls  of  snow 
varying  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  high.  Even  whilst 
walking  quickly  we  felt  the  air  very  chill,  as  well 
as  rarefied.  The  diligence  overtook  us  at  the 
hospice,  a  large  white  building,  with  numerous 
small  windows  and  green  blinds,  built  in  a  sheltered 
hollow  near  the  top.  A  portly  friar,  of  the  St. 
Augustine  order,  of  whom  three  occupy  this  abode, 
showed  us  the  chapel,  refectory,  and  sleeping- 
rooms,  as  well  as  the  noble  dogs.  Nothing  could 
be  more  dreary  than  the  scene  on  the  summit  of 
this  pass.  Around  are  fields  of  snow;  above 
you  see  clouds  play  among  gloomy  peaks  and 
glaciers;  the  eye  finds  no  cheerful  thing  on 
which  to  rest— all  is  desolation,  and  no  sound 
breaks  the  silence  but  the  occasional  cracking 
of  the  icy  seas.  There  Nature  is  on  a  gigantic 
scale;  each   cliff  seems    more   majestic    than    its 


294 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


fellow  ;  surveying  them    the  traveller   asks   with 
Southey — 

"  What  walls,  or  towere, 
Or  battlements,  are  like  these  fastnesses, 
These  rocks,  and  glens,  and  everlasting  hills  ? "  * 

A  few  miles  below  the  hospice,  on  the  Italian 

side,   is   the  poor  village  of  8imj)lon,   where   om- 

company,  appetizecl  by  the  keen  air,  did  remarkable 

justice  to  the  good  things  and  bad  things  of  my 

landlord.     A  fine  sweep  of  the  road  carries  you 

down  from  this  elevated  hamlet  to  the  first  gallery 

on   the  southern   slope,  beside  which  tlie  Doveria 

toiTcnt  thunders  along ;  then  you  pass  through  tlie 

longest  gallery  of  all— that  of  Gonda,   measuring 

six  hundred  feet,  emerging  from  which  you  are 

stunned  by  a  cascade,  which  seems  to  fall  over  the 

road  into  the  abyss  below. 

Driving  down  a  narrow  defile,  between  stupen- 
dous crags,  we  soon  reached  the  picturescpie 
Sardinian  custom-houses  at  Isella,  where  the  pas- 
sengers, at  the  request  of  the  authorities,  signed 
a  strong  declaration,  setting   forth    the  imminent 

*  "  Roderick,  the  Last  of  the  Gk)th8." 


VIEW   FROM   THE   HEIGHTS. 


295 


danger  to  which  we  had  been  exposed  by  the 
carelessness  of  the  surveyors  in  the  Swiss  canton 
of  the  Vallais.  With  this  document,  an  officer 
immediately  set  out  to  head-quarters.  Scenery  of 
the  most  romantic  character  interests  the  traveller 
in  this  vicinity  ;  in  many  places  the  torrents  had 
carried  away  tlie  road,  and  workmen  were  busy 
repairing  the  damage  done  by  the  melting  of  the 
snows. 

Crossing  the  lofty  bridge  of  Crevola,  we  sud- 
denly came  in  sight  of  that  view,  certainly  beau- 
tiful, but  far  too  much  lauded  by  tourists,  of  the 
valley  in  which  stands  Domo  d'Ossola.  Nothing 
is  more  common  than  to  hear  people  talking  of  the 
prospect,  from  the  hills  above  that  town,  of  the 
Italian  plain.*  Such  a  phrase  must  be  objected  to  : 
for  it  is  not  the  plain  of  Italy  which  you  see,  but 
an  Alpine  valley, — wider,  no  doubt,  than  that  which 
you  have  left,  but  still  completely  Swiss  in  appear- 
ance.    The  scene  has  quite  sufficient  real  beauties 

•  "  Italiam  !  Italiam  I  primus  conclamat  Achates  ; 
Italiam  !  lieto  socii  clamore  salutant." 

Virg.  ^Eneid.  book  iii. 


296 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


LAGO   MAGGIORE. 


297 


^ll 


without  ascribing  to  it  points  of  interest  to  which 
it  can  lay  no  claim. 

At  this  stopping-place  we  had  a  few  hours'  sleep 
before  the  corresponding  diligence  set  out;  but 
Hoon  after  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  again 
took  our  seats,  and  descending  the  valley  of  the 
Tosa,  we  twice  crossed  that  stream  in  a  boat  im- 
pelled by  a  rope  fastened  on  each  shore,  the  bridges 
having  been  can-ied  away  by  inundations ;  then 
traversing  a  beautiful  plain  covered  with  chestnut 
and  mulberry-trees,  at  a  sudden  turn  of  the  road 
beheld  the  lovely  Lago  Maggiore  sparkling  in  the 
sunbeams. 

At  Baveno,  a  village  on  its  shores,  our  German 
fellow-travellers  left  us.  It  would  be  vain  in  me 
to  attempt  u  description  of  the  scenery  between 
this  place  and  Arona,  where  the  lake  forms  a  bay. 
and  laves  the  banks  of  four  islands  celebrated  in 
narrative  and  song — the  Isola  Madre,  covered  with 
wood — the  Isola  dei  Pescatori,  on  which  stands  a 
picturesque  fishing- village — the  Isola  St.  Giovanni 
— and  finally  the  charming  artificial  Isola  Bella, 
built  upon  terraces,   and  ornamented  with  every 


species  of  plant  and  flower.  In  1671  this  lovely 
spot  was  a  barren  rock,  but  about  that  date  Count 
BoiTomeo  took  it  into  his  head  to  beautify  it,  and 
now  a  palace  and  gardens,  with  luxuriant  vegeta- 
tion, and  trees  of  various  climates,  render  it  one  of 
the  pleasantest  retreats  in  Italy. 

If  the  Lakes  of  Lucerne  and  Como  indisputably 
excel  all  others  in  point  of  grandeur,  Maggiore 
must  be  admitted  to  bear  away  the  prize  for 
beauty.  Its  broad  expanse  of  calm  waters  reflects 
"  that  sky  so  darkly  and  intensely  blue,  never  seen 
but  over  landscapes  that  a  Claude  or  a  Rosa  loved 
toj^aint;"*  on  its  surface  picturesque  boats  may 
be  always  descried,  carrying  peasants  between  the 
villages,  parties  on  trips  of  pleasure,  and  fishermen 
from  the  Isola  dei  Pescatori ;  at  the  foot  of  the 
wooded  hills  which  extend  nearly  round  it,  are 
smiling  fields  of  maize  and  rye,  with  little  towns  oc- 
cupying romantic  promontories  ;  Avhile,  beyond  the 
minor  elevations  towards  the  north,  rise  the  snowy 
summits  of  the  Alps.  I  never  enjoyed  a  prospect 
more  than  that  from  the  top  of  the  diligence  as  we 

•  Bulwer's  "  Rienzi ;  Last  of  the  Tribunes." 


-*       ^   -  -^  - 


298 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


crept  slowly  along  the  margin  of  this  azure  8ea. 
The  day  was  oppressively  warm ;  not  a  cloud 
obscured  the  rays  of  that  southern  sun,  which 
shone  on  the  mulberry-trees  and  vineyards,  the 
groves  of  walnuts,  and  meadows  of  sweet-smelling 
hay,  on  each  side  of  our  path.  The  gardens  with 
outspreading  fig-trees,  the  patches  of  wheat  and 
green  cari^et-like  hemp,  the  villas  and  villages,  and 
the  lovely  colour  of  the  waters,  strongly  reminded 
me  of  Naples,  the  "  bright  city  of  the  waves." 

As  the  "  first  warm  breezes  of  Italy  swept  by," 
it   seemed,   in    the  beautiful  words  of  Willis,   to 
"  melt  the  chilling  mist  on  my  lip  and  cheek,  and 
kiss    away    the    frozen    rime   from    my   breath," 
calling  upon  me  to  invoke  "  God's  blessing  on  the 
radiant  climate;^  the  very  air  of  which  has  always 
filled   me   with  joy.      How   beautiful    the    vines 
trained   from   tree  to  tree  at  the  margin  of    the 
grain-fields;    they  look   like  festoons  on  the   tri- 
umphal  arch    of  the  conqueror !     Many  peasants 
were  busily  engaged  when  we  passed  in  stripping 
the  leaves  from   the   mulbeny-trees   to  feed   the 
silkworms. 


AUSTRIAN    CUSTOM-HOUSE. 


299 


I  tried  to  get  the  conductor  to  converse  about 
the  state  of  Italy,  and  the  feelings  with  which 
his  Sardinian  countrymen  regarded  Austria ;  but 
although  I  encouraged  him  by  disparaging  "i 
Tedeschi,"he  maintained  an  obstinate  reserve,  being 
the  only  Italian  I  met  who  did  not  express  his 
detestation  of  that  unnatural  government,  which 
Russian  policy  alone  has  enabled  to  keep  its  footing 
beyond  the  Alps.  Had  Paskewitch  not  crossed  the 
Car})athians  during  the  civil  war  in  Hungary, 
not  a  German  soldier  would  now  have  been  visible 
in  Venetian  Lombardy. 

On  the  top  of  a  hill,  overlooking  the  lake  near 
Arona,  stands  a  gigantic  bronze  statue,  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  feet  in  height,  erected  to  commemo- 
rate the  virtues  of  St.  Carlo  Borromeo.  At  this 
town  we  exchanged  our  Sardinian  for  an  Austrian 
diligence,  and  tAvo  hours  afterwards  crossed  the 
Ticino  at  Sesto  Calende,  where  it  issues  from 
Maggiore.  There  were  no  other  passengers ;  our 
baggage  consisted  of  a  very  small  portmanteau  and 
bag,  yet  we  suffered  here  a  detention  of  an  hour 
and  a  half,  until   the  rascally  German  douaniers 


I 


300 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


ARRIVAL   AT   MILAN. 


301 


ransacked  our  things  in  a  manner  disgraceful  to  a 
civilized   country.     I   have   seen   severe   custom- 
house examinations,  but  never  such  an  exhibition 
of  low  curiosity  and  vulgar    insolence   as  I  wit- 
nessed at  this  frontier.     Every  article  of  dress  was 
turned  out  and  spread  on  the  table ;  my  hotel  bills, 
and  note  books,  inspected  with  scrupulous  care ; 
and  an  attempt  made  to  read  my  letters  on  the 
part  of  ignorant  clowns,  who,  so  far  from  under- 
standing English,  could  not  speak  the  language  of 
that  beautiful  country  which  suffers  so  much  from 
their  rule  of  terror.     A  tattered  sheet  of  the  lUus- 
ti-ated  London  News,  which  served  to  cover  a  map, 
filled  their  minds  with  suspicion,  and  the  chief 
douanier  himself  had  to  be  sent  for  to  his  dwelling- 
house,  to  decide  whether  or  not  half  a  supplement 
of  the   "Times"  could  be  admitted  into  the  do- 
minions  of  Hapsburg.     Surely  the   camarilla   at 
Vienna  might  be  more  lenient  towards  a  journal 
which  has  proved  itself  so  unscrupulous  an  advocate 
of  their  military  tyranny. 

And  why  were  we  exposed  to  these  annoyances  ? 
Simply  because  we  were  English  and  had  come  from 


Sardinia.  The  ill-bred  officials  of  Austria,  feeling 
the  sorry  figure  which  they  cut  before  the  Czar 
delivered  them  from  the  patriots  of  Hungary  and 
Lombardy,  revenge  themselves  for  the  contemp- 
tuous expression  of  public  feeling  towards  them  in 
Western  Europe,  by  subjecting  travellers  to  petty 
hardships,  which  a  judiciously  applied  bribe  may, 
however,  generally  alleviate. 

After  the  portmanteau  had  been  examined,  my 
passport  had  to  be  vt'seed,  a  matter  of  some  diffi- 
culty, for  the  blockhead  in  charge  of  the  bureau 
could  neither  read  the  printing,  nor  the  signature. 
Before  starting,  the  douaniers  ordered  the  porter 
to  ask  payment  from  me  for  removing  and  re- 
placing the  luggage.  This  was  too  much  for  my 
equanimity;  I  had  submitted  to  insolence,  but 
told  the  man  to  get  his  wages  from  his  German 
masters,  for  I  had  no  inclination  to  be  robbed  as 
well  as  insulted  by  the  miserable  official  tyrants, 
whose  object  in  spending  a  few  years  in  Lombardy 
is  plunder. 

After  a  tedious  drive  along  a  dusty  road,  unen- 
livened by  the  least  diversity  in  scenery,  we  saw 


I 


302 


THE   TAOUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


the  white  tower  of  Milan's  magnificent  Duomo 
rising  majestically  above  the  green  trees,  and  soon 
entered  that  handsome  city  by  tlie  famous  trium- 
phal arch  built  by  Nai>oleon,  and  ornamented  by 
a  bronze  gi'oup,  cast  from  the  cannon  taken  at 
Marengo.  The  '•  Arco  della  Pace''  has  always 
appeared  to  me  the  very  perfection  of  architectural 
elegance. 


END   UF    VOL.    1. 


B.  CLAY,   TRIBTIR,   BBBAD  STREET    HllL. 


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T'"s  book  is  due  tw^weeks  fro.  the  last  date  stamped 
low.  and  ,f  not  returned  at  or  before  that  ti.e  a  ,r.  of 
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1 


THE    TAGUS 


AND     THE     T  I  P>  E  E, 


VOL.  II, 


THE    TAGUS 


AND     THE     TIBER; 


OB, 


NOTES  OF  TRAVEL  IN  PORTUGAL, 
SPAIN,  AND  ITALY, 


IN  1850-1. 


BY 


WILLIAM    EDWARD   BAXTER. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  IL 


LONDON  • 
R.  CLAY,  P&INIER,  BREAD  STRKKT  HILL. 


LONDON : 

RICHARD  BENTLEY,  NEW  BURLINGTON  STREET, 

IJubhofirr  in  ©rliinart)  to  Jijrr  iHatwty. 

1852. 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Duomo  of  J^Iilan— St.  Ambrose— The  Corso  in  1844  and  in 
1851— Hatred  of  the  People  to  the  Austrians — Treatment  of 
the  Soldiers  by  the  Civilians  —  Politeness  of  the  Italians- 
Leave  for  Bologna— The  Lombards— Excessive  Heat — Lodi — 
Parmesan  Cheese — Passports — Cross  the  Po — Piacenza — Fron- 
tier of  Modena— Reggio — Capital  of  the  Duchy— Escort  <.f 
Dragoons— The  Legations — Insecurity  of  Travelling— The 
Quarterly  Review— Bolognar— Its  Streets  and  Leaning  Tower 
—Ascent  of  the  Apennines— Beggars— Scenery  on  the  Summit 
—Tuscan  Custom-house- View  of  Florence— German  Military 
Government— Appearance,  Buildings,  and  Historical  Recol- 
lections of  the  Etrurian  Athens 1 1 


CHAPTER  IL 

The  English  in  Florence— The  Pitti  Palace— Its  Gallery  of 
Paintings— Guido's "  Cleopatra "—Raffaelle's  "Leo  the  Tenth" 
and   "Madonna  della  Segiola "  —  Canova'a   "Venus"  — The 


1 


VI 


CONTEJ^TS  OF   THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


Boboli  Gardens — Gkilileo's  Chamber — The  Church  of  Santa 
Croce — The  Casine — Austrian  Horsemanship — Campanile  of 
Santa  Maria  del  Flore  —  The  Oonfaloniere  of  Florence — The 
Laurentian  Library — ^The  Loggia — Tower  of  the  Ducal  Palace 
— The  Gallery — The  Venus  de  Medici  —  Americans  at  the 
Table  d'Hote — Manners  of  our  Transatlantic  Brethren  .         34 


CHAPTER  in. 

Feadt  of  St.  Ranieri  at  Piaa — Crowd  on  the  Railway — Agriculture 
of  Tuscany — Sienna — Our  Fellow-traveller — The  Despotisms 
of  Europe  weakening  Roman  Catholicism — Pasfl  of  Radicofaui 
— Volsinium  —  Montefiascone  — Viterbo — Lake  of  Vice — So- 
lemn Feelings  on  approaching  Rome  —  Dreariness  of  the 
Vicinity — First  View  of  the  Eternal  City — Different  Points 
from  which  to  enjoy  the  Prospect  of  Rome — Bustling  Streets — 
English  Handbills— Porta  del  Popolo— The  Pincian  Hill— The 
Janiculum — Foimtains — Summit  of  St.  Peter's — Back  Streets 
of  the  modem  Town — Drainage — Fort  St.  Angel o — Temple  of 
Vesta — Ruins  and  Gardens  on  the  Aventine — Palatine  and 
Coelian  Hills — Belt  of  Pleasure  Grounds  round  the  City — The 
Campagna — Its  utter  Desolation 56 


CHAPTER  IV. 


NOTES   ON   THE   RUINS   OF    ROME. 


Inundations  of  the  Tiber — Who  destroyed  the  Monuments  of 
ancient  Rome  ? — Rienzi,  last  of  the  Tribunes — The  City  in  the 
Fifteenth  Century — Climate  of  Central  Italy — The  Pantheon 
— Columns  of  Marcus  Aurelius  and  Trajan — Baths  of  Titus, 
of  Diocletian,  and  of  Caracalla — The  Appian  Way — Valley  of 
Egeria — Tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella — The  Catacombs — Road  to 
Tivoli — Mons  Sacer — The  Capitol  and  Tarpeian  Rock — The 
Fonim  Romauum — Temple  of  Jupiter  Tonans — Arch  of  Sep- 


fX)NTENTS  'OF  THE  SECOND  VOLlTMlv, 


vn 


timius  Severus — The  Mamertine  Prison — The  Coliseum — 
Arches  of  Constantine  and  Titus — The  Palatine  Mount — Its 
Ruins  and  Gardens        .......         S2 


CHAPTER  V. 
Churches  of  Rome — Basilics  of  St.  Paul,  Santa  Croce,  and  Sivnta 
Maria  Maggiore — Piazza  St.  Pietro — First  Impresi*ions  of  St. 
Peter's — Its  colossal  Dome — Statuary  in  the  Interior — Ca- 
nova's  Monument  to  Clement  XIII. — Feast  of  Corpus  Domini 
— Procession  of  Ecclesiastics — The  Monks,  Prelates,  and  Car- 
dinals— Pio  Nono — General  Gemeau — The  Pope's  Beneilictiou 
from  the  High  Altar  of  St.  Peter's  '—  English  Spectators — 
Feelings  produced  by  the  Ceremony — Procession  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament  in  the  Square  of  the  Lateran — The  Scala  Santa — 
Festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  the  Lateran  Church — 
Arrival  of  the  Pope — The  Swiss  Guards — Pio  Nono  on  his 
Pontifical  Throne — Homage  of  the  Cardinals —The  Cistine 
Chapel — Michael  Angelo's  "Last  Judgment" — The  Vatican 
Palace — Raffaelle's  "  Loggie" — Genius  of  that  Painter — Pom- 
pey's  Statue  in  the  Spada  Palace — St.  Pietro  in  Vincoli — 
Michael  Angelo's  "  Moses"— Gallery  on  the  Capitol— Domeni- 
chino's  "  Cumsean  Sybil"— "The  Bronze  Wolf"—"  The  Dying 
Gladiator" — Statuary  in  the  Vatican— The  "  Laocoon  "  and 
^'Apollo  Belvidere" — Guercino's  Pictures — The  Three  "  Ecce 
Homos  "  in  the  Corsini  Palace—"  The  Martyrdom  of  St.  Sebas- 
tian"—Guido's  ■**  Beatrice  Cenci"— His  Fresco  of  "  Aurora"  in 
the  Pavilion  of  the  Rosprgliosi  Palace — Paintings  in  the  Va- 
tican—Domenic)iino's  "St.  Jerome" — Raffaelle's  "  Coronation 
of  the  Virgin,"  and  "  Madonna  de  Foligno"— "  The  Transfigu- 
ration"—Notes  on  Raffaelle's  Pictures— Feelings  on  leaving 
Rome 103 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Observations  on  the  Papal  Territories — Miserable  State  of  the 
Country— Its  probable  Fate— Two  Theories  on  this  Subject— 


Vlll       CONTENTS   OF  THE   SECOND   VOLUME. 

Civita  Vecchia — Travellers  and  their  Couriers — Arrival  at 
Leghorn — Procession  of  the  Holy  Sacrament — Railroad  to  Pisa 
and  Lucca — An  American  Locomotive — The  Sardinian  Malle- 
poste — Picturesque  Situation  of  Massa — The  Marble  Quarries 
at  Carrara — Excellence  of  the  Agriculture,  and  Garden-like 
Appearance  of  the  Province — Gulf  of  Spezzia —Industry  of 
the  People — Arrival  at  Genoa — Beautiful  Scenery  on  the  Coast 
— Savona — St.  Remo — Terrible  Precipices — Grandeiu*  of  the 
Cliffs  above  Monaca — View  of  Nice — Marseilles — Pleasures  of 
Travelling  in  Southern  Europe 135 


CHAPTER  VIL 

NOTES   ON   THE   POUTICAL  CONDITION    OF   ITALY. 

Effects  of  Climate  —  The  National  Character  —  Influence  of 
Despotism  an,d  of  the  Fine  Arts — Pictures  and  Civilization — 
The  Austrian  Government — Its  Finances  and  Soldiery  —Ob- 
servations on  the  Present  State  of  Lombardy,  Venice,  Tuscany, 
the  Papal  Territory,  and  Naples — Mr.  Gladstone's  Pamphlet — 
The  Last  of  the  Bourbons — Piedmont  and  Sardinia — Prophecy 
of  Sir  Ekiward  Bulwer  Lytton — Prosperity  of  that  Kingdom — 
The  Hopes  of  Italy  centred  in  Turin — Political  Opinions  of 
the  Italians — Their  Choice  between  Military  Tyranny  and 
Republicanism  —  Instability  of  the  Governments  now  in 
Existence — Feelings  of  the  People  towards  the  King  of  Naples 
— Spread  of  Disaffection  to  the  Papacy — Prospects  of  Pro- 
testantism  .........         15d 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

NOTES   ON   THE    POLITICAL   INFLUENCE   OF   ROMAN   CATHOLICISM. 

The  Latitudinarian  Party  in  England — Their  Alliance  with  the 
L^ltramontane  Roman  Catholics  —  Difference  between  the 
Agents  of  the  Papacy  in  Britain  and  those  on  the  Continent — 


: 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


IX 


Aggressions  of  the  Pope  in  the  Sixteenth  Century — Effects  of 
the  Catholic  Emancipation  Act  —  Prophetic  Words  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel — Examination  of  the  Question  regarding  the 
Right  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  to  appoint  Bishops  to  control  the 
Affairs  of  National  Churches,  and  to  exercise  Temporal  Autho- 
rity— Real  Object  of  those  represented  by  Cardinal  Wiseman 
— Influence  of  Popery  on  Morals  and  Learning  ,        .        194 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NOTES   ON    THE  POLITICAL   INFLUENCE   OF   ROMAN   CATHOLICISM, 

continued. 

Professed  Liberality  of  Papal  Agents — Bearings  of  their  Leading 
Doctrines  on  Civil  Society  —  The  Crusades  —  Asceticism — 
Mariolatry — Pilgrimages — Pretended  Miracles — Observations 
on  the  History  and  Influence  of  Auricular  Confession — Some 
Effects  produced  by  the  Celibacy  of  the  Clergy — Monasteries 
and  Convents  in  England — "Persecution  a  necessary  Ele- 
ment of  the  Romish  Church  Theory  " — The  Inquisition — The 
Conflicts  in  France — The  Huguonots — Closing  Remarks  ,  220 


CHAPTER  X. 

NOTES  ON  THE  LAND   QUESTION   AT   HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

Importance  of  this  Subject — English  Agriculture — Leases — 
Appearance  of  Holland — Scotch  Farming — The  Peasant  Pro- 
perties in  France,  Flanders,  Switzerland,  and  Tuscany  — 
Observations  on  the  Cultivation  of  the  Soil  in  Normandy,  the 
Canton  of  Berne,  and  the  Valley  of  the  Loire — Comfortable 
Aspect  of  the  Landholders  in  the  Lowland  parts  of  Switzer- 
land —  Sismondi's  Opinion  —  Agricultural  Improvements 
amongst  the  Mountains — Remarks  on  the  Fields  of  Styria, 
Carinthia,  the  Tyrol,  and  Piedmont — Colleges  Abroad  for  the 
Education   of  Farmers — Conservative   Influence   of    Peasant 

A3 


CONTENTS   OF  THE  SECOND    VOLUME, 

Properties — The  Freehold  Land  Societies — Tendency  of  the 
English  Feudal  Laws  to  prevent  the  Natural  Division  of  the 
Soil — DUad vantages  of  Small  Estates — Indebtedness  of  these 
Properties  in  France  and  Canada — They  prevent  the  free 
Interchange  of  Industry,  increase  the  number  of  Idlers  in 
large  Towns,  and  afford  no  Reserve  against  an  Evil  Day — 
Dangers  threatening  Britain 248 


CHAPTER  XL 

NOTES  ON  THE  EDUCATION  OP  THE  PEOPLE  AT  HOME  AND 

ABROAD. 

Ignorance  yet  prevalent  in  England — The  Common  Schools  in 
the  United  States  of  America — Statistics  of  Educational  Insti- 
tutions in  Prussia,  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Baden,  Denmark,  Holland, 
and  France — Mr.  Joseph  Kay's  Work  on  this  subject  —  The 
Evils  of  Centralization  —  Functionaries  in  Germany  —  Mr. 
Laing's  Testimony — Observations  on  Mr.  Kay's  Praise  of  the 
Landwehr  System  and  of  the  Amusements  popular  on  the 
Continent — Effects  of  the  National  Instruction  in  Baden — 
Objections  to  the  Plan  of  Education  adopted  abroad — The 
Scholars  taught  rather  to  be  good  Subjects  than  useful  Men  — 
Mr.  Kay's  peculiar  Sentiments  regarding  Religious  Training — 
The  Fr^res  Chretiens — The  Common  Schools  of  Austria — 
Opinion  of  Mr.  Paget — Unsuitableness  of  the  German  System 
of  Instruction  to  the  Circumstances  of  England  27C 


THE   TAGUS 


AND    THE    TIBER. 


CHAPTER   L 

THE  DUOMO  OF  MILAN — ST.  AMBROSE — THE  CORSO  IN  1844  AND 
IN  1851 — HATRED  OF  THE  PEOPLE  TO  THE  AT7STRLANS TREAT- 
MENT OF  THE  SOLDIERS  BY  THE  CIVILIANS — POLITENESS  OF  THE 
ITALIANS — LEAVE    FOR     BOLOGNA- — THE    LOMBARDS — EXCESSIVE 

HEAT — LODI — PARMESAN      CHEESE — PASSPORTS CROSS     THE    PO 

— PIACENZA — FRONTIER   OF  MODENA — REGGIO CAPITAL  OF  THE 

DUCHY — BSCORT  OF  DRAGOONS — THE  LEGATIONS — INSECURFTY 
OF  TRAVELLING — THE  QUARTERLY  REVIEW  —  BOLOGNA  —  ITS 
STREETS  AND  LEANING  TOWER — ASCENT  OF  THE  APENNINES — 
BEGGARS — SCENERY  ON  THE  SUMMIT — TUSCAN  CUSTOM-HOUSE — 
VIEW  OF  FLORENCE — GERMAN  MILITARY  GOVERNMENT — APPEAR- 
ANCE, BUILDINGS,  AND  HISTORICAL  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  THE 
ETRURIAN   ATHENS. 

In  a  former  work  I  have  recorded  my  impressions 
of  Milan,  the  scene  of  the  Viscontis'  cruelties, 
the  city  of   Ambrose,  the  stem  disciplinarian  of 


r 


12 


THE  TAOUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


MILAN  CATHEDRAL. 


13 


kings,  and  of  Angilbertus,  who  in  the  ninth 
century  maintained  a  steady  opposition  to  the 
corruptions  of  Kome.*  We  had  stopped  on  this 
occasion  in  our  journey  towards  the  south,  merely 
to  spend  a  day  or  two  in  admiring  that  unrivalled 
cathedral,  which  Willis,  in  his  Pencillings  by  the 
Way,  characterises  as  "  too  delicate  and  beautiful 
for  the  open  air."  When  we  entered  the  spacious 
aisles  on  the  morning  of  the  succeeding  day,  the 
Archbishop  had  just  concluded  the  ceremony  of  bap- 
tizing three  children,  the  performance  of  which  an- 
nually some  time-sanctioned  custom  has  enjoined. 
But  the  roof  of  the  Duomo  is  the  place  to  enjoy  the 
elaborate  carving,  the  thousand  statues,  the  grace- 
ful minarets,  the  light  buttresses  and  massive 
slabs— all  of  pure  white  marble — which  render 
this  edifice  so  deservedly  celebrated  among  the 
Churches  of  Europe.  To  Napoleon  we  are  in- 
debted for  much  that  now  delights  the  eye ;  for 
although  begun  in  1386,  the  building  progressed 
but  slowly  until  he  applied  to  its  advancement  the 
resources  of  his  unconquerable  will.  Even  now 
many  spires  and  statues  are  wanting  to  complete 

*  See  "  Milner's  Church  History,"  Century  IX.  chap.  iii. 


the  original  design  ;  but  the  edifice  does  not  look 
unfinished,  for  each  minaret  has  a  figure  on  its 
summit,  and  statues,  the  work  of  famous  artists, 
fill  the  niches  in  these  aerial  tow^ers. 

In  the  centre  a  lofty  pyramid  supports  a  gilt 
representation  of  the  Virgin,  around  which  cluster 
pinnacles  of  exquisite  proportions,  like  a  miniature 
city  of  spires.  None  of  the  great  European 
Churches  to  my  mind  at  all  equal,  in  point  of 
exterior  elegance,  the  Cathedral  of  Milan.  When 
the  evening  sun  shines  on  its  fairy-like  architecture, 
it  appears  like  the  temple  of  the  Celestial  City, 
fashioned  by  angelic  intelligences ;  or,  to  use  the 
words  of  Mrs.  Hemans, — 

"  A  mountain  of  white  marble,  steep'd 
In  light,  like  floating  gold." 

In  clear  weather  the  traveller  may  enjoy  from  the 
top  a  view  of  no  common  splendour,  comprising 
the  city,  wuth  its  churches,  convents,  barracks, 
arches,  and  palaces,  the  rich  plain  of  Lombardy, 
the  Apennines,  and  every  peak  of  the  higher  Alps, 
from  the  snow-white  Orteles  in  the  Tyrol  to 
Mont    Blanc,   Monta    Rosa   rising    at    no   great 


14 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


FEELINGS  TOWARDS  AUSTRIA. 


15 


distance  from  your  point  of  observation— the 
monarch  of  the  scene.  The  oftener  I  returned  to 
gaze  on  this  wonderful  creation,  the  more  my  mind 
was  filled  with  admiration,  both  of  its  design  and 
of  its  execution.  Elaborate  ornament  seldom  in- 
deed succeeds  in  producing  an  effect  so  majestic 
and  sublime.  Again  and  again  I  sauntered  round 
it,  and  finally  went  away  quite  convinced  that  no 
such  temple  has  yet  been  erected  for  the  worship 
of  God. 

The  sights  of  Milan  I  had  seen  previously; 
our  only  other  visit,  therefore,  was  to  the  old 
Church  of  St.  Ambrose,  said  to  be  the  same  into 
which  that  intrepid  man  refused  to  admit  the 
Emperor  Theodosius.  With  all  his  faults  of 
temper,  it  has  ever  appeared  to  me  that  Ambrose 
wavS  a  great  and  good  man.  He  lived  in  an  age 
when  religious  toleration  was  unknown,  when  men 
oftentimes  mistook  their  own  impulses  for  heavenly 
light ;  but  although  stem,  he  was  *'  in  labours 
abundant;"  though  superstitious,  he  fervently 
sought  guidance  from  on  high ;  though  unmerciful 
to  Arians,  he  devoted  his  estate  to  the  poor. 
While  alive  he  manfully  struggled  for  "  the  faith 


once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  in  opposition  to  the 
dignities  of  the  empire  ;  and  he  died  esteemed  and 
regretted  by  every  well-wisher  of  that  Church, 
which  heresy  threatened  to  destroy. 

In  the  year  1844,  the  Corso,  or  Boulevard  which 
surrounds   the   city   of  Milan,   presented   on   fine 
summer  evenings  an  animated  spectacle  of  carriages 
and  equestrians,  rich   liveries,    and   gaily-dressed 
fashionables :  it  was  pleasant  then  to  sit  under  the 
elms,    and   look,   on   the   one   hand,  towards  the 
Alpine  summits  tinged  by  the  setting  sun ;  on  the 
other,  at  the  glittering  pageant  which  these  plea- 
sure-seekers displayed.     Now  all  is  changed.     On 
the  evening  of  a  festival,  I  sauntered  along  this 
spacious    drive,  and  found  it  forsaken,   desolate, 
lonely.     Here  and  there  a  grim  Austrian  soldier 
guarded  a  cannon,  or  a  tradesman  and  his  wife 
jogged  along   in  a   rickety  gig;  but  the  nobles, 
the  equipages,  the  prancing   steeds,   had  all   dis- 
appeared,— gone  to  Turin,  to  Paris,  to  London, — 
to  any  place  where  the  hated  uniforms  of  Hapsburg 
are  not  seen.     Those  who  remain  have  sold  their 
studs,  appear  seldom  in  public,  and,  living  retired 
and   obscure,  wait   the   good  time   coming,  when 


16 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


# 


!:! 


Hungary  shall  sound  the  loud  tocsin,  and  Austria, 
paralysed,  behold  the  political  emancipation  of 
Italy. 

I   had   observed,    during   my  previous   visit   to 
Lombardy,  the  dislike  felt  by  all  classes  towards 
their  German  masters.     Xo  one  even  then  could 
spend  a  few  days  in  Verona,  Padua,  and  especially 
Venice,  without  observing  it ;  but  that  dislike  was 
love,  in  comparison  with  the  unconcealed  hatred, 
the  ungovernable  detestation,  expressed  in  1851, 
by   man,   woman,    and   child,   when   sj>eaking  of 
"  i  Tedeschi."     We  travelled  always  in  the  public 
conveyances,  and   conversed  with   a  great   many 
people  in  every  walk  of  life  ;  but  we  only  met  one 
man   (and  he  was  a  Tuscan  officer)  who  did  not 
openly  avow  himself  an  advocate  of  national  in- 
dependence, a  sworn  enemy  of  the  bayonets  of  the 
north.     In   Bologna,   in   Florence,   in   Rome,   in 
Leghorn,  in  Pisa,  but  most  of  all  in  Milan,  did 
this  dislike  manifest  itself.    In  none  of  these  cities, 
nor  on  any  of  the  roads  in  the  country,  did  we  see 
a  single  German  officer  or  soldier  speaking  to  an 
Italian.     The   military   rulers   have    been  every- 
where sent  to  Coventry ;  and  when  new  commo- 


FEELINGS  TOWARDS   AUSTRIA. 


17 


K' 


tions  take  place  across  the  Alps,  they  will  be  sent 
somewhere  else  with  very  little  ceremony. 

I  looked  for  any  mark  of  intercourse  between 
the  people  and  the  troops  in  the  streets,  in  the 
churches,  in  the  carriages,  and  at  the  balconies  of 
the  capital  of  Lombardy,  but  in  vain.  There  are 
two  principal  cafes,  occupying  diffiirent  sides  of  the 
Piazzo  del  Duomo.  The  Cafe  Mazza  wks  always 
full  of  Austrian  officers,  not  a  single  Italian  ever 
entering  it;  while  the  Milanese  gentlemen  and 
ladies  crowded  the  caf^  opposite  ;  and  if  a  German 
dared  to  intrude  there,  every  citizen  instantly  rose 
and  departed.  Tobacco  is,  as  many  know,  a 
Government  monopoly.  To  injure  the  revenue 
of  their  detested  rulers,  the  Lombards  have  given 
up  using  it ;  not  a  man  was  to  be  seen  smoking  in 
the  streets  ;  and  scarcely  had  I  entered  that,  as  well 
as  other  cities,  when  I  was  warned  not  to  put  a  cigar 
into  ray  mouth,  and  thereby  break  the  rules  of  the 
*'  Invisible  Government."  "  If  you  smoke.  Sir, 
you  will  be  knocked  down,"  was  repeatedly  re- 
marked to  me  ;  and  who  would  not  respect  the 
feelings  of  a  people,  kept  in  check  by  the  armed 
soldiery  of  a  power  which  Kossuth  has  well  called 


18 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


LEAVE   MILAN. 


19 


the  mere  ^'  satellite "  of  Russia,  yet  scorning  to 
associate  in  any  degree  with  their  oppressors  ? 
One  of  the  national  poets  has  mournfully  ex- 
claimed,— 

"  Italia  !  in  te  acetata  e  diaimita ;" 

but  although,  to  enslave  that  unfortunate  country, 
the  despots  of  the  north  have  combined,  and  her 
sons,  torn  by  intestine  quarrels,  not  true  to  them- 
selves, have  as  yet  been  unsuccessful  in  coun- 
teracting their  oppressors'  plots,  let  us  not  forget 
that  wise  saying  of  Ovid's, — 

"  Neque  enim  lex  aequior  ulla 
Quam  necis  artifices  arte  perire  sua." 

How  much  more  polite  than  their  transalpine 
neighbours  are  the  people  of  sunny  Italy !  We 
had  scarcely  spent  one  day  in  Milan  before  this 
fact  forced  itself  upon  our  observation.  In  the 
streets,  in  public  places,  everywhere  room  was 
made  for  us  ;  and  no  one  jostled  our  elbows,  stared 
rudely  at  us,  or  puffed  tobacco  into  our  ejea, 

Sunday  was  the  feast  of  Pentecost.  We  went 
to  the  cathedral  just  in  time  to  see  the  curtain 
of  the  grand  door  drawn  up,  and  the  archbishop,  a 


fine-looking  man,  enter,  superbly  dressed,  with  a 
mitre  glittering  with  jewels,  and  attended  by 
priests,  nuns,  and  footmen  in  splendid  liveries. 
A  dense  crowd  assembled  at  mass ;  and  after  the 
reading  of  the  gospel,  the  prelate  himself  preached 
in  Italian,  which  he  does  only  three  times  a-year. 
He  read  his  discourse  out  of  a  book :  I  was  not 
near  enough  to  see  whether  in  manuscript  or 
printed;  Init  my  next  neighbour  remarked  that 
he  could  do  that  himself,  if  that  were  all  the 
ability  required  in  a  minister.  I  was  somewhat 
surprised  to  observe  so  many  men  at  the  con- 
fessionals,—a  very  unusual  sight  in   the   present 

age. 

We  left  Milan  on  Monday,  the  ninth  of  June, 
in  the  intSrieur  of  the  diligence  for  Bologna; 
and,  driving  out  of  the  southern  gate,  had  a  fine 
view  beyond  the  green  mulberry-trees  of  the  far 
distant  .Orteles  in  the  Tyrol,  its  dome  of  spotless 
snow  rising  above  the  plain  of  Lombardy,  the 
delicious  valley  which  Shakspeare  calls  "the 
pleasant  garden  of  great  Italy."  In  the  forty- 
second  chapter  of  Gibbon's  *'  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,"  there  occurs  a  striking  pas- 


il 


20 


THE   TAUUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


sage  regarding  the  origin  and  manners  of  that 
strange  people  who,  from  the  banks  of  the  Elbe 
and  the  Oder,  crossed  the  Alps,  and  finally  settled 
on  the  Po.  Whoever  wishes  to  know  the  history 
of  a  nation  now  trodden  under  foot,  must  read  this 
graphic  account ;  and  perhaps,  on  rising  from  its 
perusal,  a  thought  may  cross  his  mind  that  the 
descendants  of  those  Langobards  whom  Alboin  led 
to  the  very  gates  of  Ravenna,  may  yet,  if  the  sig- 
nal be  given,  re-enact  the  fearful  scenes  which  took 
place  on  the  Danube  when  the  Gcpidae  were  de- 
stroyed. 

Travellers  in  Central  Australia  tell  us  of  heat  so 
excessive  that  the  leaves  fell  off  the  trees,  and  the 
mercury  burst  the  bulb  of  the  thermometer.  How 
they  survived  withering  blasts  which  silenced 
birds,  prostrated  horses,  and  ignited  matches,* 
must  remain  for  ever  a  mystery  to  me,  for  the 
power  of  the  sun  which  shone  upon  us  during  our 
journey  to  Bologna  seemed  enough  to  paralyse  any 
ordinary  man.  The  leaves  hung  motionless  on  the 
trees,  a  quivering  heat  trembled  among  the  ears  of 
corn,  and  clouds  of  dust  shrouded  our  vehicle. 

•  See  Captain  Sturt's  "  Expedition  into  Central  Australia." 


LODI. 


21 


i 


Melegnano  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  river 
Lambro,  in  the  midst  of  a  country  remarkable  for 
its  fertility,  irrigated  on  the  most  scientific  prin- 
ciples by  means  of  canals,  watercourses,  sluices, 
and  aqueducts,  and  producing  great  quantities  of 
grain.  Formerly  this  part  of  Lombardy  w^as  a  forest, 
but  the  Muzza  canal,  with  its  various  branches, 
has  transformed  it  into  a  garden,  whose  agricultural 
resources  excite  the  envy  of  less  favoured  pro- 
vinces. I  observed  very  fine  fields  of  maize,  clover, 
rye,  and  other  plants,  separated  from  each  other  by 
somewhat  tiresome  rows  of  melancholy  willow- 
trees.    The  rice-plantations  were  all  under  water. 

The  second  place  at  which  we  stopped — Lodi — 
recals  the  memories  of  other  days ;  for  that  bridge 
over  the  Adda  two  gallant  armies  struggled  in  ter- 
rific combat,  and  there  Napoleon's  soldiers  rushed 
on  the  artillerymen  of  Austria,  shouting  Vive  la 
RSpuhlique!  In  the  district  around  this  place  is 
made  the  famous  Parmesan  cheese,  so  called  because 
it  was  first  exported  from  Parma.  They  likewise 
cultivate  flax  to  a  considerable  extent.  Beyond 
Castarepusterlengo,  where  hundreds  of  people  in 
holiday   costume    had   assembled   to   celebrate   a 


22 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


festival,  we  passed  a  great  number  of  clover-fields, 
covered  with  water  from  the  canals,  in  default  of 
rain. 

We  now  came  in  sight  of  the  peaks  of  the 
Apennines,  and  after  journeying  for  a  mile  or  two 
on  the  top  of  the  embankment  raised  to  protect  the 
country  from  the  inundations  of  the  Po,  stopped 
for  an  unreasonably  long  time  at  the  frontier  of 
Lombardy  to  have  our  passports  viseed.  Between 
Milan  and  Bologna  I  had  to  show  that  document 
no  fewer  than  fourteen  times  to  the  authorities,  and 
to  submit  to  three  custom-house  examinations  of 
luggage.  Several  people  had  been  stopped  on 
account  of  trivial  informalities ;  and  one  Sardinian 
gentleman,  in  whose  company  I  afterwards  crossed 
the  Apennines,  informed  me  that  the  authorities  at 
Cas^elfranco,  a  miserable  village  on  the  frontier  of 
tlie  States  of  tlie  Church,  detained  him  there  for 
three  days,  because  the  signature  of  one  Papal 
delegate  instead  of  another  was  attached  to  his 
passport.  So  much  for  the  freedom  of  travelling 
in  this  part  of  Italy ! 

We  crossed  the  broad  and  rapid  Po  by  a  tempo- 
rary and  somewhat  insecure  bridge  of  boats,  lead- 


\ 


i 


FRONTIER  OF   MODENA. 


23 


ing  to  the  ancient  town  of  Piacenza,  which  occupies 
an  imposing  situation  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river.  Its  principal  square  is  considered,  justly  I 
think,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  peninsula.  As  if 
determined  to  incur  the  ridicule  of  every  rational 
being,  the  government  of  this  petty  state,  a  mere 
second-rate  satellite  of  Austria,  are  at  present 
engaged  in  throwing  away  money  on  new  fortifi- 
cations. A  Parisian  who  travelled  with  us  in  the 
diligence,  with  propriety  remarked,  that  it  seemed 
to  him  a  return  to  barbarism. 

An  uninteresting  road,  the  same  formerly  called 
the  Via  Emilia,  having  been  made  by  Emilius 
Lepidus  in  the  sixth  century,  conducts  from  Pia- 
cenza to  Parma,  the  capital  of  the  duchy,  which 
was  a  cit}?  of  some  note  long  before  the  Christian 
era,  but  has  now  a  gloomy,  deserted  look,  many  of 
the  large  mansions  being  untenanted. 

At  the  frontier  of  the  duchy  of  Modena  we  were 
detained  fifty  minutes,  whilst  the  "active"  officials 
examined  two  trunks  and  sealed  five  boxes  of  mer- 
chandise ;  and  at  Keggio,  a  flourishing  town, 
chiefly  remarkable  as  the  birthplace  of  Correggio 
and  Ariosto,  the  diligence  remained  an  hour  with- 


24 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


out  any  reason  at  all.  On  leaving  it  we  passed 
througii  a  pretty  country,  and  crossed  the  dry  beds 
of  several  mountain-torrents,  the  channels  which 
cany  off  the  melted  snows  of  the  neighbouring 
Apennines,  whose  white  peaks  we  saw  towering 
above  the  mulbeny-trees.  The  vines,  hung  in 
festoons  from  tree  to  tree,  add  materially  to  the 
beauty  of  the  landscape ;  but  the  liouses  are  poor, 
dirty,  and  uncomfortable,  and  the  district  swarms 
with  beggars.  We  stopped  for  some  time  at  Mo- 
dena,  capital  of  the  duchy  of  the  same  name,  a 
curious  old  place  of  thirty  thousand  inhabitants, 
which  has  long  been  governed  by  the  Este  family, 
and  where  they  have  a  library  of  ten  thousand 
volumes.  Its  lofty  cathedral-spire  rises  very  con- 
spicuously in  the  flat  plain. 

For  several  miles  after  passing  the  Pope's  fron- 
tier, we  had  an  escort  of  dragoons,  this  part  of 
Italy  being,  perhaps,  the  most  robber-infested 
district  in  Europe.  Some  weeks  afterwards  I  ob- 
served in  the  Journal  des  Dehats  that  the  diligence 
had  been  attacked  here  by  banditti,  who  murdered 
several  soldiers  before  taking  to  flight.  In  the 
Legations  especially,  one  cannot  travel  with  any 


! 


\ 


\\ 


\ 


^ 


c^/ 


QUARTERLY   REVIEW. 


25 


degree  of  security ;  for  the  people  hate  their  rulers, 
both  Papal  and  Austrian,  who,  unassisted  by  the 
peasantry,  have  been  utterly  unable  to  exterminate 
the  predatory  bands  whose  outrages  every  now  and 
then  fill  Italy  with  dread. 

A  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review  has  attempted 
to  turn  into  ridicule  the  statement  which  I  made  in 
a  former  volume,  that  Lombardy  was  beautifully 
cultivated,  while  its  peasanty  live  in  hovels,  and 
are  clothed  in  rags.  Great  is  the  astonishment 
aflected  by  this  critic  that  a  country  could  look 
like  a  garden,  and  at  the  same  time  its  population 
be  miserable.  Apparently  profoundly  ignorant  oi 
the  system  of  middlemen  and  absenteeism,  of  rack- 
renting  and  extortion,  by  which  tlie  real  cultivators 
of  the  soil  in  the  valley  of  the  Po  have  been 
reduced  to  the  level  of  the  lower  classes  in  Tippe- 
rary,  my  Mentor  treats  the  remarks  which  appear 
to  him  contradictory,  as  the  result  of  visual  ob- 
liquity, and  dismisses  them  with  a  compassionating 
smile. 

The  ancient  and  well-known  city  of  Bologna 
stands  in  a  ])lain  carpeted  with  the  beautiful  hemp 
plant,  at  the  base  of  the  first  spur  of  the  Apennines. 

VOL.  II.  B 


26 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


SCENERY    OF   THE   APENNINES. 


27 


Its  narrow  streets,  archways,  piazzas,  and  spires, 
recal  to  one's  mind  the  days  of  Italy's  republics, 
when  civil  warfare  desolated  the  peninsula.  The 
tower  of  Asinelli,  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
feet  high,  becomes  visible  long  before  you  see  the 
houses  of  the  town.  Within  a  few  feet  of  it  stands 
a  mis-shaped  tower,  built  in  1100,  one  hundred 
and  forty-five  feet  in  height,  which  leans  eight  feet 
out  of  the  perpendicular.  The  two  together  have 
a  strange  appearance. 

In  the  chief  square  is  the  ugly  church  dedicated 
to  St.  Petronius,  where  Charles  V.  was  crowned 
by  Clement  YII.  Hallam  tells  us  that  "if  it 
were  necessary  to  construe  the  word  umversity  in 
the  strict  sense  of  a  legal  incorporation,  Bologna 
might  lay  claim  to  a  higher  antiquity  than  either 
Paris  or  Oxford."  * 

As  a  school  of  Roman  jurisprudence  it  acquired 
great  celebrity,  and  Tiraboschi  says  that  in  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  there  were  ten 
thousand  young  men  there  pursuing  their  studies. 
In  the  year  1580,  according  to  the  state  papers 
relating  to   the   province,    and   addressed   to   the 

*  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  ii.  p.  481. 


/ 


Legate,  "Fa  da  130m.  anime  la  citttt  70m.  die 
avanti  le  carestie  90m.  Ha  400  fra  carozze  e  cocchi. 
Vengono  nella  citta  ogiii  anno  da  600m.  libre  de 
foUicelli  da  quali  si  fa  la  seta,  e  se  ne  mette  opera 
per  uso  della  citt^  100m.  libre  I'anno."  Like  other 
cities  in  the  Papal  States,  it  has  rather  declined 
than  increased  in  prosperity,  and  now  when  tra- 
vellers cross  the  Alps,  and  Pyrenees,  and  Car- 
pathians with  pei-fect  safety,  banditti  prowl  on  every 
road  near  Bologna. 

It  was  yet  only  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
when,  seated  in  the  interior  of  the  diligence,  we 
left  this  city  for  Florence.  For  two  hours  our 
route  lay  up  a  cheerful  valley,  the  ground  being 
very  uneven.  Then  commenced  a  steep  ascent, 
which  lasted,  with  some  intermissions,  for  six 
hours,  and  several  times  oxen  assisted  our  horses 
to  drag  the  vehicle.  Here,  too,  the  vines  hung  in 
beautiful  festoons  from  the  branches. 

As  we  mounted  higher  and  higher  on  the  Apen- 
nines, a  most  extensive  prospect  revealed  itself  of 
the  plain  of  Lombardy,  with  the  deep  ravines, 
great  limestone  cliffs,  bold  peaks,  green  hill-sides, 
and    stony    valleys   of  the   mountains  which   we 

b2 


28 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


VAL   D  ARNO. 


29 


traversed.      The    excellent   road,    without   rut  or 
stone,  wound  round  their  unequal  and  fantastically- 
shaped  shoulders,  and  at  every  steep  ascent  old 
women,  mothers  with  children,  boys,  and  girls  ran 
after  us  to  beg.     "  Buona  signora,  una  cosa,  una 
cosina,"  rang  for  hours  in  our  ears.     These  heights 
are  frequently  exposed,  even  in  summer,  to  violent 
gales  ;  it  in  fact  blew  hard  when  we  crossed  them. 
The  picturesque  situations  occupied  by  the  villages 
reminded  me  more  than  once  of  Uv.  :Macaulay's 
animated  lines,  in  which  he  alludes  to  them  as— 

"  Eitgle's  nesta 
Perch' d  on  the  crests 
Of  purple  Apennine." 

At  the  poor  hamlet  of  La  Cas  we  passed  the  Pope's 
frontier,  and  soon   afterw-ards  stopped  at  Filigari, 
where  our  passports  were  viseed  and  our  luggage 
examined  by  the  officers  of  the  Duke  of  Tuscany. 
In  the  miserable  inn  two  small  lean  chickens  and 
vermicelli  water,  professing  to  be  soup,  were  pre- 
sented to  seven  hungry  travellers  as  their  mid-day 
meal ;  while    the  "  vino   bianco  "  and    the   ''  vino 
'     rosso  "  were  equally  undrinkable.     Chestnut-trees 
cn-ow  in  oreat  abundance  on  the  hills  around  these 


\ 


villages ;  but  dreary  mountains,  reminding  me 
strongly  of  Spain,  had  to  be  crossed  after  leaving 
them.  Heavy  falls  of  snow  frequently  render  this 
part  of  the  road  impassable  in  winter. 

Descending    from  these    desolate    heights    into 
a  valley  with  well-tilled  fields,  and,  what  are  very 
unusual  abroad,  a  few  country  seats,  we  followed 
the  banks  of  a  little  stream,  up  a  narrow  highland 
glen    to    Fontebuona,    the    last    changing-place, 
where  I  got  out  of  the  diligence  and  walked  up 
a  steep  hill,  from    the   top  of  which   a  view  burst 
upon  my  senses,  which  language  fails  to  describe. 
It  was  a  cloudless  warm  evening,  the  sun  shining 
brilliantly,  and  a  pleasant  breeze  playing  among 
the  foliage  of  the  gardens  around ;  there  lay  the 
Val  d'Arno,  with  its  woods  and  winding  stream  ; 
while,  as  it  were  beneath  my  feet,  glittering  in 
Italian  sunshine,  rose    the    domes  and  towers  of 
Florence ;  on  the  left,  crowning  a  lofty  hill,  was 
YirgiVs  Fiesole,  and  far  as  the  eye  could   reach 
white  houses  sparkled  like  jewels  on  the   purple 
Apennines.     A  delicious  fragrance  from  the  vine- 
yards filled  the   air, — peasants  returning  to  their 
homes  dashed  past    me    in    their    light    vehicles, 


30 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


FLORENCE. 


31 


and  music,  rising  and  falling  with  the  gentle  wind, 
broke  upon  my  ear.  Lost  in  admiration,  I  sat 
down  on  a  hank,  where  the  wild  thyme  grew,  and 
meditated  on  the  scene  heforc  me. 

"  Talia  Fesuleo  lentus  meditabar  in  antro 
Rure  sub  urbano  Medicum,  qua  mons  sacer  urbeiii 
Meeoniam,  lougique  volvunina  despicit  Arui."  • 

As  we  approached  nearer  "  the  fair  wliito  walls 
of  the  Etrurian  Athens,"  the  view  became,  if  pos- 
sible, more  striking;  but  at  lengtli  we  reached 
the  arch  of  Francis  I.,  and  entered  the  city,  the 
first  men  we  saw  within  the  gates  being  Austrian 
soldiers,  a  race  whom  the  Florentines  hold  in  utter 
aversi<^ii.  As  in  Milan  and  Bologna,  we  observed 
that  no  communication  of  any  kind  passed  between 
the  citizens  and  the  military ;  they  dwell  together 
in  anything  but  amity,  and  take  little  pains  to 
conceal  their  mutual  antipathy.     "  Non  durer^," 

*  The  reader  will,  perhaps,  remember  the  opening  of  chapter 
ii.  in  the  sixth  book  of  that  splendid  historical  romance,  "Rienzi, 
the  Laat  of  the  Tribunes  :"— "  It  was  a  bright,  oppressive,  sultry 
morning,  when  a  solitary  horseman  was  seen  winding  that  un- 
equalled road  from  whose  height,  amidst  fig-trees,  vines,  and 
olives,  the  traveller  beholds  gradually  break  upon  his  gaze  the 
enchanting  valley  of  the  Amo  and  the  spires  and  domes  of 
Florence." 


exclaimed  an  Italian  to  me,  with  a  vehemence 
quite  startling,  "  perche,  perch^  signor,  abbiamo 
in  cielo  un  Dio  giusto." 

Few  educated  Englishmen  require  to  be   told 
the  situation  of  Florence,    "  girt  by  her  theatre 
of  hills"   and  divided  into  two  portions  by  the 
silvery  Arno.     Its  walls,  seven  miles  in  circum- 
ference, enclose  a  population  of  about  one  hmidred 
thousand;  and  in  its  narrow    and   bustling,   but 
admirably  paved  streets,  the    noble  mansions   of 
the  ancient  nobility,  with  their  extensive  gardens, 
may  be  seen  side  by  side  with  dwellings  of  the 
meanest  kind.     The  massive  blocks  of  hewn  stone, 
each  standing  out  into  relief  iu  its  separate  grandeur, 
and  all  combining  to  form  palaces  lit  for  royalty, 
tell   of    former   days,  when  the   Bardi   and    the 
Peruzzi    farmed   the    customs   of    England    and 
Sicily,  and  the  Medici  brought  both  merchandise 
and  manuscripts  from  the  furthest  regions  of  the 
East;    when   Cosmo   devoted   his   wealth   to   the 
restoration  of  learning,  and  Lorenzo  sat  between 
RafFaelle  d'Urbino  and  Michael  Angelo  Buonarotti 
iu  the  PLatonic  academy.* 

»  See  Vaaari's  "  Vite  dei  PittorL" 


32 


THE   TAG  US  AND   THE   TIBEH. 


To  the  little  Florentine  republic  the  literature 
and  arts  of  Europe  owe  more  than  to  all  those 
powerful  nations  combined,  which  by  turns  over- 
ran Tur^cany  with  their  armies.  There  Dante 
Alighieri,  the  Milton  of  Italy,  the  parent  of  its 
poetry,  first  saw  the  light,  and  there  one  hundred 
years  afterwards  Boccaccio,  at  the  command  of  the 
civic  rulers,  read  lectures  on  the  Divine  Comedy, 
not  excepting  that  famous  philippic  against  an 
ungrateful  country  in  the  sixteenth  canto  del 
Paradiso,  beginning  ^'  O  poca  nostra  nobiltil  di 
sangue."  A  citizen  too  of  this  Athens,  retiring  on 
account  of  political  ditTercnces  to  Arezzo,  became 
the  father  of  Petrarch,  the  poet  of  love  and 
friendship,  of  religion  and  glory,  whose  Laura  has 
been  celebrated  with  all  the  music  of  his  native 
tongue.  And  then  Florence  was  the  home  of  the 
improvisatori,  the  extempore  verse-makers,  who, 
from  village  to  village,  at  every  festa  and  rural 
dance,  expressed,  in  recitative  eclogues,  the  charms 
of  Italian  beauty.  Nor  can  we  forget  the  revo- 
lutions, the  alarms,  the  massacres,  the  proscriptions, 
the  political  changes  which  took  place  during  even 
the  palmy  days  of  Tuscan  greatness,  the  quarrels 


II 


FLORENCE. 


33 


between  the  nobles  and  the  populace,  or  that 
enactment,  unique  of  its  kind,  by  which  the 
latter,  then  triumphant,  excepted,  from  the  edict 
banishing  the  higher  classes,  five  hundred  persons, 
whom  they  declared  IIAISED  from  being  patricians 
to  the  ranks  of  the  commoners. 

Even  in  pure  democracies  at  the  present  time, 
wealth  or  official  rank  creates  a  sort  of  nobility ; 
but  the  gi'cat  families  of  Florence  strove  for  the 
j>ricil€ge  of  being  esteemed  plebeian  ;  proud  and 
domineering  when  "  la  ruota  di  fortuna  "  revolved 
in  their  favour,  many  of  them  in  adverse  circum- 
stances swam  with  the  tide,  while  others  retired 
to  their  strongholds  on  the  crests  of  the  Apen- 
nines, watching,  like  keen-eyed  vultures,  their*, 
time  to  pounce  on  the  prey.  Driven  from  their 
palaces  on  account  of  their  licence  and  tyranny, 
these  Fuorusciti  plotted,  now  with  the  Guelfs, 
then  with  the  Ghibellines,  to  subvert  the  dominant 
faction  and  restore  themselves  to  power.* 

•  "  Vecchia  fama  nel  mondo  li  chiama  orbi, 
Gente  avara,  invidiosa,  e  superba 
Da'  lor  costumi  fa  che  tu  ti  forbi." 

Dante's  "  Inferno"  canto  15. 

b3 


#?    > 


1 


CHAPTEK  II. 


THE  ENGUSH    IN    FLORENCE — THE  PITTI  PALACE — ITS   GALLERY   OP 


PAINTINGS — GUIDO  S 


(( 


« 


CLEOPATRA  — RAFFAELLE  8  "  LEO  THB 

,'a  «• 


TENTH"  AND  "madonna  DELLA  SEGIOLA  — CANOVA  8  "  VENUS' 
— THE  BOBOLI  GARDENS — GALILEO's  CHAMBER  —  THE  CHURCH 
OF  SANTA  CROCE — THE  CASINE  —  AUSTRIAN  HORSEMANSHIP  — 
CAMPANILE  OF  SANTA  MARIA  DEL  FIORE — THE  GONFALONIERE  OF 
FLORENCE — THE  I^VURENTIAN  UBRARY — THE  LOGGIA — TOWER 
OF  THE  DUCxVL  PALACE — THE  GALLERY — THE  VENUS  DE  MEDRI 
— AMERICANS  AT  THE  TABLE  d'HOTE — MANNERS  OF  OUR  TRANS- 
ATLANTIC  BRETHREN. 

One  cannot  spend  half  a  day  in  Florence  without 
observing,  with  surprise,  the  numerous  evidences 
of  English  residence.  Such  sign-boards  as  tlie 
following  indicate  the  degree  to  which  the  inha- 
bitants are  indebted  to  foreign  capital : — "  Joseph 
Gamgeau,  veterinary  surgeon."  *^  George  Graff, 
coachmaker  in  all  its  branches."  "Excellent 
riding  horses  on  hire."     "  Rafael  Betti  Cook  sends 


i 


\ 


ENGLISH    IN   FLORENCE. 


35 


out  dinners."  "  James  Huband's  livery  stables." 
"  English  apothecary."  "  Thomas  Price's  Olympic 
Circus."  "Furnishing  shop."  "Rose  &  Co., 
Tailors."  "  Abemethy  biscuits  sold  here."  "  Good- 
ban,  printseller."  You  meet  fellow-countrymen 
in  every  street ;  and  many  of  the  carriages  which 
drive  past  appear  to  have  been  importations  from 
London.  A  stranger  would  feel  a  difficulty  in 
deciding  whether  "  Inglesi  "  or  friars  most  abound 
in  the  Tuscan  metropolis :  he  sees  both  every- 
where,— the  latter  as  dirty  and  disagreeable  looking 
as  the  former  are  clean  and  of  pleasing  counte- 
nance. The  citizens  have  a  curious  custom  of 
wheeling  about  prints  and  other  cotton  goods  in 
barrows  for  sale,  instead  of  erecting  attractive 
shops  to  allure  customers.  Their  manners  struck 
me  as  deferential  and  friendly ;  without  grimace, 
or  theatrical  compliments,  they  treat  visitors  with 
a  politeness  exceedingly  gratifying. 

The  name  of  the  Pitti  Palace,  now  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Grand  Duke,  is  quite  familiar  to 
northern  ears.  Those  who  have  studied  the  actions 
of  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  will  recollect  that  this  mag- 


1 1 


36 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


nificent  edifice  was  planned  by  the  conspirator 
Liica  Pitti,  and  that  when  his  intrigues  met  with 
their  merited  punishment,  the  progress  of  the 
works  was  stopped ;  but  not  until  as  much  liad 
been  built  as  immortalized  the  name  of  the  envious 
noble.  Speaking  of  the  various  erections  ordered 
by  this  Florentine,  Macchiavelli  says,  — "  Ma 
quello  nella  Citta  al  tutto  maggiore  die  alcon  altro 
che  da  privato  cittadino  fino  a  quel  giomo  fusse 
stato  edificato."  It  stands  on  an  elevation  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Arno,  and  is  connected  with  the 
ancient  ducal  palace,  in  the  principal  square  of  the 
city,  by  a  covered  bridge,  which  crosses  both  the 
houses  and  the  river.  The  Boboli  gardens  rise 
immediately  behind  it,  occupying  the  slope  and 
summit  of  a  gentle  eminence.  The  view  from  the 
tower  on  the  highest  point,  though  not  so  extensive 
as  that  from  the  neighbouring  mountains,  })erhaps 
exceeds  it  in  mellowed  beauty.  Emerging  from 
avenues  of  noble  trees  and  groves  of  lemons,  which 
fountains  cool  and  statues  adorn,  you  suddenly 
behold  sti  etched  out,  as  in  a  panorama,  the  domes 
and  palaces,  the  hanging  gardens  and  villas  em- 


THE   IMTTI    PALACE. 


37 


/ 


bosomed   in  wood,    which   justify  Rogers  in  ex- 
claiming,— 

"  Of  all  the  cities  on  the  earth, 
There's  none  so  fair  as  Florence." 

But  returning  to  the  main  entrance,  let  us  ascend 
to  the  second  story,  and  visit  those  fifteen  saloons, 
where  the  traveller,  in  the  glowing  words  of  Byron, 
becomes  "  dazzled  and  drunk  with  beauty."  Fres- 
coes by  celebrated  masters  adorn  the  ceilings  of 
these  apartments;  and  on  their  walls  hang  the 
treasures  of  art  which,  if  they  charm  the  eye, 
mock  the  descriptive  powers  of  every  author.  The 
collections  at  Munich,  Dresden,  and  Madrid,  may 
be  much  more  extensive;  but  the  Pitti  Palace 
contains  few,  if  any  works  by  second-rate  artists : 
it  is  a  mine  of  the  pm'cst  gold,  and  baser  metal 
has  been  excluded.  In  the  same  space,  a  like 
exhibition  of  masterpieces  nowhere  exists.  There 
you  find  that  famous  portrait  of  Leo  X.,  by 
Rafael,  before  which  Cardinal  Pescia  knelt  and 
presented  bulls  for  signature.  Three  centuries  have 
passed  away  since  this  painting  was  executed,  yet 
even  now  I  could  imagine  a  similar  mistake  to  be 
committed ;  for  the  vigorous  colouring,  the  proud 


38 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIIJER. 


attitude,  the  bold  relief  In  whieli  the  figure  stands 
out,  even  tlie  minute  details  of  dress  and  ornament, 
conspire  to  cause  an  illusion  almost  irresistible 
Then  you  have  Guido's  Bacchus,  and  Murlllo's 
Madonna  ;  but  it  were  folly  to  enumerate.  I  only 
mention  two  more,  chiefly  because  they  appeared 
to  me  unspeakably  superior  to  all  the  others,  and 
because  whilst  I  write,  copies  of  them,  very  cleverly 
executed  by  my  friend,  Slgnor  Petrini  of  Florence, 

hang  before  me. 

To  those  who  can  appreciate  the  inexpressible 
charm  possessed  by  Guido's  pictures,  it  is  no  small 
praise  to  say  that  some  connoisseurs  consider  the 
gi-andest  of  all  his  works  to  be  ''  The  Cleopatra  " 
in  this  collection.  With  a  countenance  turned  to- 
wards heaven,  and  expressive  of  a  deep  yet  con- 
trolled agony,  she  applies  the  asp  to  her  bosom  ; 
while  on  a  table  beside  her  is  the  basket  of  figs,  in 
which  the  reptile  had  been  conveyed.  In  her  face 
you  read  the  memorable  history  of  Egypt's  en- 
chanting queen.  Sick  of  a  world  whose  changes 
vex  her,  wearied  of  a  life  devoted  to  degrading 
sin,  doubtful  ot  the  future  whither  her  spirit  must 
soon   take   its   flight,   she  casts   her   glassy  eyes 


RAFFAELLE  S   MADONNA. 


39 


Upwards  to  the  seat  of  Deity,  and  communi- 
cates the  poison  to  her  veins.  Stranger,  behold 
her  look  of  anguish,  the  awful  emotions  of  that 
perturbed  spirit,  on  which  the  world  has  in  vain 
lavished  its  pleasures,  and  know  what  it  is  to  be 
"  chained  to  the  chariot  of  triumphal  Art." 

Close  to  one  of  those  sensual,  vulgar  groups, 
which  Peter  Paul  Rubens  calls  Holy  Families, 
hangs  the  most  celebrated  of  the  Virgins  of 
llaft'aellc,  the  lovely  Madonna  della  Segiola,  repe- 
titions of  which  abound  in  every  comitry  under 
the  sun.  Mary,  seated  on  a  couch,  tenderly  em- 
braces the  infant  Jesus,  and  leans  her  head  so  as 
almost  to  touch  Ills  noble  brow ;  wliile  the  young 
St.  John,  with  his  hands  in  the  attitude  of  adora- 
tion, worships  the  Babe  whose  name  is  Wonderful. 
What  a  heavenly  group  !  It  speaks  of  a  better 
world,  where  saints  repose  with  confidence  in  the 
bosom  of  their  Lord.  A  tender  mother,  yet  a 
humble  believer,  happy  but  serious,  the  Virgin 
folds  in  her  arms  the  Child  in  whose  countenance 
one  can  read  Divinity.  There  is  no  familiarity, 
no  unlikely  prostration;  you  see  a  pious  parent 
musing  on  the  mysterious   ways   of   Providence, 


40 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


CAXOVA  S   VEXUS. 


41 


while  the  glance  of  the  Infant's  eye  seems  to 
peneti-atc  the  heart  of  the  observer,  and  to  whisper, 
in  angelic  accents,  ''  I  am  He."  The  softness  of 
touch,  the  ease  of  attitude,  the  gracefulness  of 
conception,  the  natural  colouring,  all  attest  this 
splendid  picture  to  be  the  work  of  him  who 
''pingere  posse  animam  atquc  oculis  piieberc  vi- 
dendum ; "  par  excellence,  the  painter  of  ex- 
pression, the  delineator  of  the  soul. 

InEaffaelle's  masterpieces,  art  exists  in  its  highest 
possible  manifestations,  without  being  seen  ;  every- 
thing is  regular,  yet  not  constrained ;  and  richness 
never  degenerates  into  pomposity.     lie  frerpicntly, 
by  a  series  of  happy  touches,  represents  the  pro- 
gress of  a  scene  and  the  rapidly-changing  emotions 
of  the  actors.     Yasari  narrates  that  a  Bolognese 
artist,  who  had  long  wished  to  see  a  work  by  the 
great  master,  on  opening  the  case  which  contained 
one,  was  so  overpowered  with  conflictinfc  feelin^'-s 
that  he  sickened  and  died.    Where  movement  and 
passion  had  to  be  represented,  no  one  could  equal 
him.     The  Virgin,  to  whom  he  especially  devoted 
his   powers,    appears   in    some  of  his   works    the 
simple  Mary  of  Bethlehem,  the  guileless  peasant 


'1 


of  Judea  ;  in  others,  the  majestic  queen  of  angels, 
enthroned  in  clouds,  and  attended  by  the  seraphs 
who  proclaimed  her  Son.  So  famous  did  he 
become  in  Rome,  "  ut  quasi  coeleste  demissum 
numen,  ad  a^ternam  urbem  in  pristinam  majestatem 
reparandam,  omnes  homines  suspiciant." 

In  the  centre  of  a  small  anteroom  stands  the 
celebrated    Venus     by    Canova.      Perhaps    some 
people  may  consider  it  exceedingly  bad  taste,  on 
my  part,  to  say  that  this  statue   disappointed  me 
more    than  any  other  work  of  art  in   Italy ;  yet 
I  cannot  help  remarking,   that  the  visitors  to  the 
American    department   of    the    Great    Exhibition 
have   seen,   in  my  opinion,   a  far  nobler  piece   of 
sculpture,  viz.  Iliram  Power's  Greek  Slave.     Mr. 
Ruskin    remarks,    in  his    "  Stones    of  Venice," — 
"  The  admiration  of  Canova  I  hold  to  be  one  of 
the    deadliest     symptoms    of    the   civilization    of 
the  upper  classes  in  the  present  century."     This 
statement  requires  to  be  qualified  and  explained, 
for  some  of  the  tombs  executed  by  that  artist  have 
obtained  for  him  a  position  from  which  he  can- 
not be  dislodged  by  a  mere  sentence ;  but  certainly 
the  raptures  affected  by  some  people  on  beholding 


42 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TriiER. 


tlie  Venus  must  remain  to  me  incomprehensible. 
It  possesses  no  distinctive  feature  enabling  you  at 
once  to  characterise  it  as  the  queen  of  love  and 
beauty,  the  mother  of  Cupid  and  mistress  of  the 
Graces.  The  statue  wants  that  elegant  ease  and 
evident  symmetry  of  parts  which  compel  instan- 
taneous homage  on  the  part  of  him  who  looks  on 
the  Venus  de  Medici. 

If  the  traveller   has   any  love  for  the  horrible, 
lie    will    visit    the    Museum    of   Natural    History, 
where,  besides  an  excellent  collection  of  minerals, 
stuffed  birds,  and  anatomical  preparations  in  wax, 
he  will  find  the  celebrated  representations  of  the 
Plague,    by   the    Sicilian    Abbate  Zumbo.     They 
form,  indeed,  a  ghastly  exhibition.     In  the  same 
building,  a  room  has  been  fitted  up  in  honour  of 
Galileo,    with    statues    of  him   and   other   famous 
men,  and  frescoes  illustrative  of  his   discoveries. 
One  cannot  help  thinking,  in  such  a  place,  of  that 
sad  chapter  in  Italian  history  which  narrates  the 
sufferings  of  the  great  philosopher,  whom  priestly 
ignorance  buried  in  a  loathsome  gaol,  because  he 
discovered  one  of  the  grand  truths  of  nature. 
In  a  back  street  of  Florence  still  stands  the 


CHUIiCH  OF  SANTA  CROCE. 


43 


Buonarotti  palace,  owned  by  the  descendant  of 
the  great  sculptor,  and  in  the  sacristy  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Lorenzo  are  several  statues  by  that 
master  of  the  art.  Adjoining  this  apartment,  you 
see  the  Chapel  of  the  Medici,  an  octagon,  encrusted 
with  valuable  marbles  and  siliceous  stones,  the 
splendid  mausoleum  of  Tuscany's  most  celebrated 
princes. 

We  spent  one  evening  in  the  Church  of  Santa 
Croce,  the  Pantheon  where  lie  the  ashes  of  so  many 
mighty  dead  ; 

"  dust  which  is 

Even  in  itself  an  immortality." 

Externally  this  place  of  worship  possesses  every 
characteristic  of  ugliness ;  but  close  to  the  entrance 
on  the  right,  your  attention  becomes  fixed  on  the 
tomb  of  Michael  Angelo,  a  sarcophagus,  over  which 
Painting,  Architecture  and  Sculpture  mourn  their 
loss,  with  a  bust  of  the  great  Tuscan,  executed  by 
his  own  hand.  Next  it  a  far  nobler  monument 
has  been  erected  to  the  memory  of  Dante,  who 
sits  in  a  meditative  attitude  above,  while  Italy  and 
Poesy  weep  for  the  departed,  and  the  former  points 
to   an  inscription,  "  Quorate  I'Altissima   Poeta." 


44 


THE   TAG  US   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Then  you  come  to  CaiKjva's  lainoiis  work  in 
honour  of  Altieri,  opposite  to  which  a  Innnhle 
marhle  marks  the  spot  where  Galileo's  ashes  wait 
the  sound  of  the  trumpet  w^hich  shall  wake  the 
slumberers  of  the  tomb. 

The  Casine,  or  Ilyde-park  of  the  Tuscan  capital, 
is  a  long,  narrow  plantation  of  tall  trees  on  the 
banks  of  the  Arno,  below  the  city.  Here,  on  a 
summer  evening,  the  fashionables  assemble  to  drive 
their  curricles,  and  listen  to  the  Austrian  reiri- 
mental  bands.  Pony  chaises  appeared  "  the  rage" 
during  our  stay ;  and  I  was  surprised  to  see  the 
Florentine  noblemen  imitating  the  fast  men  of 
England,  Avho  build  private  stage-coaches  and 
drive  four-in-hand. 

The  avenue  on  the  Arno  looked  like  the  road  to 
Epsom,  with  this  exception,  that  I  did  not  observe 
one  rider  who  could  sit  his  horse.  The  etpiestrian 
exhibitions  which  w^e  witnessed  on  the  part  of  the 
Austrian  officers,  both  at  ^lilan  and  Florence,  were 
really  ridiculous.  In  the  former  town,  we  one  even- 
ing passed  a  crowd  busily  engaged  in  jeering  two 
young  Germans,  one  of  whom  had  fallen  off  his 
charger,  w^iile  the  other,  attempting  to  assist  his 


AUSTRIAN    HORSEMANSHIP. 


45 


comrade,  seemed  unable  to  move  without  inflictin^r 
on  his  horse  such  punishment  w4th  his  spurs  as  no 
animal  could  bear.  By-and-by,  his  military  cap 
fell  off;  a  bystander  picked  it  up;  in  bending 
forward  to  receive  it,  he  again  w^ounded  the  steed  ; 
but  by  this  time  the  discomfited  man  had  re- 
mounted, and  away  went  both  cavaliers  down  the 
Corso  Orientale,  looking  like  two  John  Gilpins, 
whose  career  would  speedily  end,  the  mob  mean- 
Avhile  raising  a  shout  of  derisive  laughter  at  the 
expense  of  "  i  Tedeschi."  If  the  Austrians  suc- 
ceed in  retaining  Hungary,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  ]\Iagyars,  who,  like  the  English,  love  their 
horses  and  equestrian  exercise,  w^ll  teach  them 
how  to  ride. 

The  first  evening  on  which  we  drove  in  the 
Casine  was  one  of  those  lovely  ones  which  can  only 
he  enjoyed  in  a  southern  clime  :  a  refreshing  breeze 
rustled  the  foliage  overhead,  a  flood  of  light  had 
fallen  on  the  wooded  hills  on  each  side  of  the  Arno, 
and  the  setting  sun  gilded  with  a  radiance  almost 
tropical  the  lofty  Campanile  of  Florence. 

This  belfry,  a  quadrangular  edifice,  260  feet 
high,  cased  with  marbles  of  different  colours,  and 


46 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


certainly  the  most  exquisite  building  of  the  kind 
in  Italy,  stands  close  to  the  cathedral  of  Santa 
Maria  del  Fiore,  in  the  centre  of  the  city.  The 
church  itself  is  a  vast  building,  presenting  a  sin- 
gular appearance  on  account  of  the  variegated 
marbles  with  which  its  outward  walls  are  faced. 
Behind  the  high  altar  is  Michael  Angelo's  last  and 
unfinished  work,  Christ  taken  down  from  the 
Cross,  with  a  suitable  inscription  by  Cosmo  III. 
Whilst  we  were  in  the  cathedral  one  day,  the 
municipality,  guarded  by  soldiers  and  preceded  by 
the  Tuscan  colours,  entered  to  attend  mass.  ^'  Wlio 
is  that  marching  in  front?"  I  asked.  "  That,"  an- 
swered my  neighbour,  "  is  the  Gonfaloniere." 
The  Gonfaloniere  of  Florence !  AVliat  memories 
does  that  word  recal,  what  glorious  chapters  in 
the  history 

"  Delia  bella  Italia,  ov'  h  la  sede 
Del  valor  vero  e  della  vera  fede." 

The  church  of  Sta.  ^laria  del  Fiore  once  wit- 
nessed another  scene.  On  the  twenty-sixth  day 
of  April,  1478,  the  brothers  de  ^Icdici  invited  the 
dignitaries  of  the  place  to  meet  in  that  holy  edifice 
Cardinal   Riario,    apostolic    legate,    charged    with 


r 


/< 


/. 


f 


STA.  MARIA   DEL   FIORE. 


47 


important    communications  from    the    Holy    See. 
Scarcely    had  the   officiating  priest   elevated   the 
consecrated  wafer  when  Francesco  de  Pazzi,  the 
rival  of  the  ruling  family,  rushed  on  Guiliano  de 
Medici,  and,  assisted  by  a  hired  assassin,  stabbed 
him    in    several   places    with   his   dagger:    while 
Lorenzo  was  only  saved  from  a  like  horrible  death 
by  the  interposition  of    a  friend.      During   this 
frightful  scene,  the  Archbishop   of  Pisa  was   at- 
tempting  to    overpower   the   magistrates    in    the 
palace ;  but  the  resolute  Gonfaloniere  Cesari  Pe- 
trucci  was  not  a  man  to  be  awed  by  priestly  vil- 
lany:  he  seized  the  plotter,  and  soon  afterwards 
hung   him,   in    his    prelatical   robes,    out    of    the 
windows  of  the  mansion.     Scarcely  had  the  news 
of   this  dastardly   revolt    reached   the   citizens  of 
Florence  when    they  flew  to   arms  in   favour  of 
Lorenzo  de  Medici,  and  insisted  upon  the  imme- 
diate execution  of  the  ruffians  who  had  threatened 
him  and  killed  his  brother. 

Thus  ended  one  of  the  foulest  conspiracies  re- 
corded in  history,  a  conspiracy  which,  though  aided 
by  the  Pazzi,  was  planned  by  no  less  a  personage 
tlian  Sixtus  IV.  Pope  of  Rome,  who  employed  as 


I 


48 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   LOGGIA. 


49 


his  principal  agents  liis  neplicw  Riario,  and  Sal- 
viati,  the  iVrchbishop  of  Pisa,  and,  as  their   sub- 
ordinates, a  strong  body  of  ecclesiastics,  devoted  to 
the  interests  of  the  papacy.     In  this  instance,  at 
least,  if  not  in  others,  he  whom  misguided  men 
believe  to  be  the  Vicar  of  God  on  earth,  the  perfect 
representative    of  Deity,    was,    in    plain    terms,  a 
murderer.     And  yet  scholars  of  the  present    age 
tell  us  that  through  this  wicked  man,  as  well  as 
through    Alexander     the    adulterer   and    Leo    the 
infidel,  the  virtue  of  a  true  succession  lias  descended 
from  the  apostles  of  our  Lord.     Well  may  Cliil- 
lingAVorth,  while  writing  about  this  extraordinary 
delusion,  call  it  a  belief    "  cousin-german  to  the 

impossible.'* 

One  of  the  most  interesting  objects  in  Florence 
is  the  Laurentian  library,  begun  by  Lorenzo  de 
Medici,  and  enriched  by  his  various  successors,  till 
at  length,  in  1532,  Leo  X.  issued  a  bull  directing 
]\Iichael  Angelo  to  design  an  edifice  suitable  to 
contain  so  splendid  a  collection  of  nuinuscripts. 
A  very  polite  custodier  showed  me,  in  this  cele- 
brated room,  a  copy  of  Virgil  which  has  descended 
from  the  remotest  times;  one  of  the  Koran,  also 


I 


'( 


of  ancient  date ;  and,  amongst  others,  beautifully 
illustrated  editions  of  Juvenal,  Cicero,  Homer, 
Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio,  executed  in  the 
fifteenth  century. 

The  churches  in  Florence,  not  even  excepting 
that  of  Santa  Maria  Novella,  which  Buonarotti 
called  his  "  sposa,"  are  unfinished,  their  facades 
being  almost  invariably  of  rough  unhewn  stones, 
having  a  most  repulsive  appearance.  Report 
ascribes  this  peculiarity  to  the  pecuniary  caution 
of  the  citizens,  who  wish  to  save  to  their  exche- 
quer the  customary  sum  which  the  Pope  expects  to 
receive  on  the  completion  of  every  place  of  worship. 
The  admirers  of  Salvator  Rosa  and  M.  Angelo 
Caravaggio  will  find  some  very  fine  works  by 
those  great  masters  in  the  palace  of  the  Corsini 
family  oyerlooking  the  Arno. 

The  principal  square  in  the  Tuscan  capital  is 
one  of  the  handsomest  in  Italy.  The  Post-office 
occupies  one  side,  and  the  Loggia,  or  open  gallery 
of  sculpture,  another  ;  the  latter  adorned  by  Juditli 
and  Holofemes  in  bronze  by  Donnatello,  Cellini's 
beautiful  representation  of  Perseus  carrying  Me- 
dusa's head,  the  Rape  of  the   Sabines,  and  other 

VOL.  II.  C 


50 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


works  of  art.     Crossing  a  lateral  street,  you  enter 
the  old  Ducal  Palace  by  a  gate,  on  either  side  of 
which   are   Eossi's    Hercules    and   that    colossal 
statue   of  David  which  M.  Angelo  in   his  early 
years  carved  out  of  a  large  piece  of  marble  spoiled 
by  a   preceding   artist.      The  great   hall   of  the 
building  contains  large  frescoes,  representing  the 
most  famous  actions  of  the  Florentine  republic  ; 
and  above  the  square  rises   that  beautiful  tower 
erected  by  Amofo,  which  you  see  in  every  en- 
graving of  the  Tuscan  capital,  and  which  certainly 
must  be  considered  one  of  the  most  graceful  of  the 
architectural  ornaments  of  Italy. 

Adjoining  this  ancient  seat  of  democratic  dignity 
an  immense  gallery,  designed   by  Vasari  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  extends  to  the  Arno,  occupying 
the  upper  story  of  the  houses  on  both  sides  of  a 
street,  which  a  bridge  connects  at  the  end  next 
the  river.     It  contains  the  invaluable  collection  of 
sculpture,    paintings,    bronzes,    monuments,    and 
gems,  presented  by  the  late  Archduke  Leopold  to 
the  nation.     Statues,  chiefly  Grecian,  fill  the  cor- 
ridors, among  which  a  wild  boar,  evidently  a  very 
ancient  relic,  particularly  attracted  my  attention. 


\ 


THE   GALLERY. 


51 


J 


Two  large  rooms  are  devoted  to  portraits  of  paint- 
ers, chiefly  their  own  handiwork ;  others  display 
a  vast  variety  of  specimens  of  the  Venetian,  French, 
Flemish,  Dutch,  and  Tuscan  schools ;  and  at  the 
end  of  the  third  lobby  has  been  placed  Bandinelli's 
copy  of  the  Laocoon. 

I  might  fill  pages  with  descriptions  of  the  pic- 
tures of  Guido,  Guercino,  Vandyke,  &c.,  well 
known  to  artists  as  forming  the  attractions  of  this 
collection  ;  but  let  me  close  these  brief  allusions 
to  the 

**  Matchless  gems  of  Ai-t's  exhaustless  mines," 

which  are  treasured  up  in  the  *' Athens  of  Italy," 
by  mentioning  the  room  called  the  "  Tribuna," 
which  contains  the  pearls  of  great  price.  On  pe- 
destals in  the  centre  of  this  little  apartment  stand 
the  Grinder,  the  Wrestlers,  the  Apollo,  those  noble 
remains  of  ancient  Greece  ;  and,  last  of  all,  the 
inimitable  Venus  de  ^ledici,  which  throws  Canova's 
''  magnum  opus"  quite  into  the  shade.  Byron  has 
summed  up  the  excellencies  of  this  statue  when  he 
says,— 

"  The  goddess  loves  in  stone,  and  fills 
The  air  around  with  beauty." 

c2 


52 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBEK. 


Hanking  with  the  Laocoon  and  the  Apollo  Belvi- 
dcre,  both  in  the  Vatican,  it  has  as  yet  never  been 
equalled  by  modem  art;  nor  has  Thorwaldsen 
himself  succeeded  in  copying  that  spirit  which 
lives  and  breathes  in  every  Athenian  statue. 

Whoever  desires  to  enrich  his  home  with  works 
of  Italian  art,  should  visit  my  friend  Signor  Pe- 
trini,  Borgo  Ognissante,  and  the  studios  of  the 
other  painters  and  sculptors,  whose  copies  of  cele- 
brated masterpieces  will  give  pleasure  to  their 
possessors  in  after  years. 

For  the  first  few  days  of  our  stay  in  Florence, 
the    taUe   d'hote  had  been   but    poorly  attended. 
One   afternoon,   however,   on    descending   to   the 
saUe  h  manger,  I  found  covers  laid  for  a  large  party. 
Turning  to  a  waiter,   I  asked  the  reason   of  the 
altered  appearance  of  the  table;  with  difficulty  able 
to  restrain  his  laughter,  he  replied,  "  Why,  this 
morning.  Sir,  we  received  a  whole  colony  of  Ameri- 
cans, fourteen  travelling  in  one  party,  and  several 
smaller   ones."     The  words  were  scarcely  out  of 
his  mouth  when  the  door  opened,  and  in  marched 
an   army  of  men,  all  upwards  of  six  feet  high, 
dressed  in  suits  of  black,  and  conversing  about  the 


TRAVELLING  AMERICANS. 


53 


*'  lions  "  of  the  city  with  the  nasal  twang  so  pe- 
culiar to  people  of  a  certain  rank  of  life  in  their 
country.  We  met  them  afterwards  in  various 
public  places,  and  with  all  their  peculiarities,  for 
none  of  them  belonged  to  the  aristocracy  of  the 
Great  Republic,  they  were  agreeable  intelligent 
men.  Among  the  shopkeepers  of  the  United  States, 
there  is  quite  a  mania  for  seeing  Europe;  every 
man  wdio  can  scrape  together  five-hundred  dollars, 
goes  off  to  visit  the  cradle  of  the  arts,  spends  his 
all  on  his  tour,  and  returns  to  make  more. 

This  class  of  people,  and  the  numerous  com- 
mercial travellers  sent  by  American  merchants  to 
aiTange  mercantile  affairs  both  in  Britain  and  on 
the  Continent,  living  as  they  do  always  in  the  best 
hotels,  and  travelling  in  the  most  expensive  man- 
ner, produce  an  unfavourable  impression  respecting 
the  manners  of  their  countrymen  on  the  minds  of 
Englishmen,  who,  totally  ignorant  of  the  state  of 
society  across  the  Atlantic,  set  dowTi  every  man 
from  the  United  States  whom  they  may  chance  to 
meet,  as  a  specimen  of  the  upper  classes.     This  is 
not  only  unjust,  but  excessively  foolish.     No  per- 
son who  has  mixed  even  for  a  few  days  in  the  best 


54 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


THUNDER-STORM. 


55 


society  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more and  Charleston,  does  not  know  that  an 
American  gentleman  is  as  much  a  gentleman  as 
any  squire  in  England,  and  that  the  ladies  will 
advantageously  compare  at  least  with  a  gi'eat  ma- 
jority of  their  sisters  in  the  fatherland.  It  is  the 
imiversal  diffusion  of  education  which  has  covered 
the  older  countries  of  Europe  with  American  tra- 
vellers in  the  lower  walks  of  life,  and  those  country- 
men of  ours  who  dislike  their  manners  should  not 
forget  that  the  same  class  in  England  scarcely 
know  where  Italy  is,  and  if  they  were  carried 
tliither,  like  Orlando,  on  winged  chargers,  would 
behave  with  a  good  deal  more  vulgarity  than  their 
Transatlantic  neighbours.  I  have  heard  American 
tradesmen  criticising  works  of  art,  and  alluding 
to  historical  incidents  during  visits  to  various 
European  countries,  in  a  manner  that  would  make 
some  even  of  the  squirearchy  of  England  hide  their 
diminished  heads. 

On  the  evening  of  the  last  day  we  spent  in 
Florence,  a  thunder-storm  passed  over  the  city, 
attended  by  heavy  rain,  hail,  and  the  fall  of  large 
pieces  of  ice,  which,  besides  driving  beneath  cover 


the  coquetting  flower-girls  and  importunate  cab- 
men, threatened  to  break  the  windows  of  our 
dwelling.  It  lasted,  however,  but  a  short  time; 
the  heavy  cloud  soon  passed  away  to  swell  the 
streams  among  the  Apennines ;  the  streets  resumed 
their  active  bustling  appearance,  and  the  blue  sky 
of  Italy  reappeared,  giving  promise  of  sunsliine  on 
the  morrow. 


i 


CHAPTER  III. 


FEAST  OF  ST.  RANIERI  AT  PISA — CROWD  ON  THE  RAILWAY — AGRI- 
CULTURE OF  TUSCANY — SIENNA — OUR  FELLOW  -  TRAVELLER — 
THE  DESPOTISMS  OF  EUROPE  WEAKENING  ROMAN  CATHOLICISM 
— PASS  OF  RADICOFANI — VOLSINIUM — MONTEFIASCONE — VITERBO 
— LAKE  OF  VICO — SOLEMN  FEELINGS  ON  APPROACHING  ROME — 
DREARINESS  OF  THE  VICINITY — FIRST  VIEW  OF  THE  ETERNAL 
CITY — DIFFERENT  POINTS  FROM  WHICH  TO  ENJOY  THE  PROSPECT 
OF  ROME — BUSTLING  STREETS — ENGLISH  HANDBILLS — PORTA  DEL 
POPOLO — THE  PINCIAN  HILL — THE  JANICULUM — FOUNTAINS — 
SUMMIT  OF  ST.  PETERS — BACK  STREETS  OF  THE  MODERN  TOWN^ — 
DRAINAGE — FORT  ST.  ANGELO — TEMPLE  OF  VESTA — RUINS  AND 
GARDENS  ON  THE  AVENTINE,  PALATINE  AND  CCELIAN  HILLS — 
BELT  OF  PLEASURE-GROUNDS  ROUND  THE  CITY — THE  CAMPAGNA, 
ITS   UTTER  DESOLATION. 

Once  every  three  years,  a  grand  illumination  and 
festival  take  place  at  Pisa,  in  honour  of  St.Ranieri, 
patron  of  the  city.  On  this  occasion  strangers 
from  all  parts  of  Tuscany,  and  even  from  the  ad- 
joining states,  flock  thither  to  spend  a  night  in 
merriment   and   masquerading.     The  occurrences 


CROWD   ON    THE   RAILWAY. 


57 


I 


whicli  happened  at  the  celebration  of  1851, — the 
projected  plot  against  the  Austrian  government, 
the  arrest  of  two  gentlemen  professing  to  be  sons  of 
an  English  peer,  and  the  consequent  excitement, 
are  familiar  to  every  reader  of  the  newspapers. 

I  left  Florence  by  railroad  on  this  well-known 
holiday,  not  however  for  Pisa,  because  such  plea- 
sure-seeking crowds  accord  not  with  my  taste,  but 
for  the  Eternal  City,  to  witness  the  processions  of 
Corpus  Domini.  We  had  started  from  the  quay 
Lungho  d'Anio  in  the  diligence  which  proceeds  to 
Rome,  taking  advantage  of  the  Strada  Ferrata  as 
far  as  Sienna.  On  reaching  the  handsome  station 
near  the  Casine,  the  conductor  showed  us  into  a 
second-class  carriage,  built  in  the  shape  of  a  long 
car,  precisely  like  those  in  the  United  States,  and 
having  accommodation  for  fifty  people.  Tlie  crowd 
on  the  platform  was  excessive,  and  not  a  little 
quarrelling  ensued  between  guards  and  passengers 
respecting  places.  Already  some  forty-five  gaily 
attired  citizens  had  seated  themselves  in  our  car- 
riage, when  a  Frenchman  looked  in  and  asked  if 
there  were  room.  A  unanimous  shout  answered 
"  No;"  but  he,  a  true  son  of  the  "  polite  "  nation, 

c3 


58 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


SIENNA. 


59 


stepped  boldly  in,  and  pushing  aside  a  lady,  forced 
himself  into  a  place.  This  rude  conduct,  of  course, 
provoked  the  Italians  present,  and  a  violent  alter- 
cation was  the  immediate  result.  However,  *'  mon- 
sieur "  retained  his  position,  casting  around  him 
glances  of  scornful  defiance,  and  squeezing  the 
alarmed  female  beside  him  to  make  himself  more 
comfortable.  It  was  a  lovely  morning,  the  sun 
shining  brightly  on  the  valley  of  the  Arno,  and  at 
every  station  we  picked  up  a  group  of  peasants 
attired  in  their  best  costume  and  bound  for  the 
grand  "  festa."  I  was  exceedingly  amused  with 
an  elderly  burgher  of  Florence  who  sat  opposite  to 
me,  and  who  seemed  to  be  travelling  on  a  railway 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  for  the  motion,  the 
bridges  and  embankments  filled  him  with  asto- 
nishment not  unmixed  with  fear.  The  country, 
especially  after  the  line  crosses  the  river,  is  very 
pretty.  On  the  hill-sides  they  were  busy  reaping 
the  rye. 

At  Empoli,  a  place  of  some  size,  we  left  the 
crowded  train  of  noisy  merrymakers,  and  entering 
a  carriage  on  a  branch  railroad,  traversed  flourishing 
vineyards  and  fields  of  maize  as  far  as  the  finely 


situated  town  of  Castelfiorentino.  Beyond  this, 
the  soil  being  poorer,  the  crops  appeared  very 
light;  much  of  the  land  too  is  underwood,  peeping 
out  of  which  every  now  and  then  you  see  pictur- 
esque villages,  perched  on  the  tops  of  eminences 
and  surrounded  by  ancient  walls.  This  railroad, 
with  its  long  cars,  and  winding  course  up  a  wooded 
valley,  the  smell  of  the  wood  burnt  by  the  loco- 
motive, and  the  narrowness  of  the  line,  vividly 
recalled  to  my  mind  the  scenery  between  Baltimore 
and  Cumberland,  on  the  route  over  the  Alleghanies. 
Passing  through  a  long  tunnel  we  reached 
Sienna,  a  strongly  fortified  place  of  twenty  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  built,  it  is  supposed,  on  the  crater 
of  an  extinct  volcano,  and  celebrated  for  the  purity 
with  which  its  citizens  speak  the  mellifluous  lan- 
guage of  Italy.  A  diligence  was  waiting  for  us  at 
the  station,  in  which  we  drove  to  the  hotel,  where 
travellers  must  dine,  if  they  do  not  wish  to  be 
starved,  for  no  further  stoppage  occurs  until  you 
reach  Viterbo,  fifty  miles  from  Rome.  For  a  long 
distance,  after  leaving  this  town,  we  passed  over 
an  uneven  country  with  a  sterile  and  badly  tilled 
soil.     Four  horses,  having  a  postilion  to  each  pair, 


60 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


drew  our  vehicle,  assisted  by  oxen  at  the  steepest 
hills.  Near  Torrenieri,  the  bleak  eminences  re- 
minded me  of  Spain,  and  San  Pietro  stands  amid 
a  plantation  of  olive-trees,  exactly  like  those  to  be 
seen  on  the  banks  of  the  upper  Guadalquiver. 

The  cold  stiff  soil  around  this  place  must  have 
been  the  same  referred  to  by  the  younger  Pliny, 
when  he  remarks  tliat  some  parts  of  Tuscany  re- 
quired nine  ploughings,  before  the  seed  could  be 
sown.  We  had  hitherto  occupied  the  coupd  alone, 
but  here  we  were  joined  by  a  Milanese  gentleman, 
resident  at  Sienna,  who  had  left  his  native  city 
out  of  hatred  to  the  Austrians.  With  him  I  had 
a  great  deal  of  conversation  during  the  remainder 
of  the  journey,  respecting  the  unfortunate  state  of 
Italy,  and  found  him  no  republican,  but  willing  to 
join  with  men  of  any  principles,  whose  object  was- 
to  expel  the  Austrians.  He  confirmed  my  impres- 
sions regarding  the  universal  dislike  felt  by  the 
people  of  Lombardy  towards  that  military  power, 
which,  backed  by  the  Czar,  checks  their  enterprise, 
represses  their  mental  activity,  and  attempts  in 
every  possible  manner  to  reduce  them  to  worse 
than  Spartan  slavery;  but  he,  like  his  brethren. 


OUR   FELLOW-TRAVELLER. 


61 


looked  for  the  good  time  coming;  and  when  I  ex- 
pressed it  as  my  opinion  that  the  bayonets  of 
Hapsburg  could  not  for  ever  crush  the  nations 
between  Hamburg  and  Sienna,  between  Mayence 
and  Belgrave,  with  vehemence  he  exclaimed, 
''No,  signor,  i  Tedeschi  medesimi  sanno  che 
questa  tirannia  non  pub  durare;  adesso  siamo  in 
gran  confusione,  disjiunti  e  vinti,  ma  il  tempo 
per  la  vendetta  verra."  This  gentleman  had  tra- 
velled in  various  parts  of  Europe,  and  spoke  with 
reverence  of  the  constitution  of  England,  but  the 
French  character  he  despised.  Their  invasion  of 
Rome,  he  remarked,  was  quite  consistent  with  the 
former  actions  of  a  people  whose  fickleness  and 
want  of  principle  had  passed  into  a  proverb.  After 
conversing  for  some  time  regarding  the  diplomacy 
of  the  present  age,  and  especially  the  manly  con- 
duct of  Lord  Palmerston  in  refusing  to  become, 
like  his  predecessor,  an  Austrian  policeman,  or  to 
prop  up  governments  which  have  rendered  them- 
selves despicable  by  their  crimes,  we  adverted 
to  the  peculiar  position  of  the  Romish  Churcli, 
whose  weak  vacillating  head  could  not  remain  in 
the    Eternal   City,  unless  surrounded   by  foreign 


62 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


bayonets.  I  was  struck  by  the  effect  which  political 
grievances  had  produced  upon  the  mind  of  this 
patriotic  man.  "  I  am  a  Roman  Catholic,"  he 
said,  "  but  when  I  see  the  Pope  leading  the  van- 
guard of  despotism,  indebted  for  his  safety  to  the 
bayonets  of  France,  intriguing  to  garrison  Rome 
with  Austrians,  shedding  the  blood  of  his  people, 
and  encouraging  that  treacherous  Nero,  the  King 
of  Naples ;  when  I  look  around  and  find  Protestant 
countries  enterprising,  happy  and  free,  while  Papal 
countries  are  deserts  like  Spain,  and  trampled  on 
like  my  poor  Italy ;  can  you  wonder,  Sir,  that  I 
begin  to  doubt  the  Div-ine  origin  of  the  faith  of  my 
fathers?" 

Nothing  can  be  more  natural  than  this  process 
of  reasoning;  there  are  thousands  in  Italy,  like  my 
eloquent  friend  Gavazzi,  whose  eyes  late  events 
have  opened;  and  I  firmly  believe  that  every 
Grerman  detachment  in  that  peninsula,  every  act 
of  persecution  on  the  part  of  Neapolitan  terrorists, 
every  tyrannical  proclamation  issued  by  Pio  Nono, 
every  instance  of  martial  law  being  inflicted  in 
Lombardy,  add  to  the  feeling  which  is  rapidly 
being  diffused  throughout  Italy  against  the  mon- 


PASS   OF   RADICOFANI. 


63 


strous  abuses  of  Romanism.  When  the  dawn  of 
freedom  first  tinges  the  tops  of  the  Apennines,  woe 
to  the  institutions  of  priestcraft !  when  the  Croatian 
dragoons  cross  the  Tagliamento,  a  cry  of  "  Down 
with  the  Papacy!"  will  awaken  the  echoes  of  the 
Quirinal  Hill.  Mazzini  may  be  active,  and  his 
party  numerous;  but  the  most  efficient  propa- 
gandists of  Protestantism  and  liberal  principles  are 
the  troops  of  Radetzky  and  the  judges  of  Naples. 

As  we  approached  the  higher  hills,  the  country 
became  more  desolate,  but  the  moon  rose  in  a 
cloudless  sky  to  light  our  way  over  the  dreary 
pass  of  Radicofani,  2,470  feet  above  the  sea,  and 
bearing  evident  marks  of  volcanic  action.  A 
wolf  skulked  across  our  path,  as  we  descended 
to  the  Pope's  frontier  at  Pontecentino,  where  the 
officers  behaved  much  more  handsomely  than  the 
Austrians  at  Sesto  Calende. 

From  Bolsena,  the  ancient  Volsinium,  once  so 
opulent  that  the  Romans  removed  from  it  two 
thousand  statues,  now  a  lonely  deserted  village, 
we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  lake,  thirty-five  miles 
in  circumference,  which  Pliny  describes,  and  which 
witnessed   the    triumphs    of    Roman    arms    two 


64 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


LAKE   OF   VICO. 


65 


hundred  and  seventy  years  before  Christ.     Every 
traveller  in  Italy  is  familiar  with  the  name  of  the 
next  town   through  which    we  passed,   also  situ- 
ated on  the  banks  of  the  "  Lacus  Volsiniensis," 
Montefiascone,  celebrated   for   its   wine.     Whilst 
toiling  along  the  stony  ill-kept  road  leading  across 
the  plain  between  this  place  and  the  Voltumnian 
hills,  the  conductor    discovered,  to  his  no  small 
consternation,   that  an  iron   bar,    supporting  the 
drag,  had  got  loose,  and,  twisting  itself  round  the 
axle,  had  driven  a  large  hole  into  the  "  int^rieur  " 
of  the  vehicle,  besides  cutting  half  through  every 
spoke  of  the  wheel.     But  the  Italians,  unlike  the 
Spanish,  soon  effect  the  repairs  necessary  to  enable 
a  disabled  diligence  to  reach  the  nearest  town,  and 
before  nine  in  the  morning  we  entered  the  ancient 
town  of  Yiterbo,  pleasantly  situated  at  the  base 
of   Mons    Ciminus,    and   surrounded   by  turreted 
walls.     We  passed  through  its  chief  square  just 
as  the  municipal  authorities,  attended  by  French 
soldiers,   were    marching   in  procession    to    mass 
in  honour  of  the  Pope's  birthday. 

Having  breakfasted  on  very  poor  fare,  we  began 
to  ascend  the  mountain,  first  between  vineyards 


I 


and  gardens,  and  then  through  a  forest  of  brush- 
wood.     This    hill    might    easily    be    cultivated. 
The   same   soil   in    Scotland    would    have    been 
yielding  heavy  crops  ;  but  an  indolent  people  and 
a  wretched  government  have   conspired  to  arrest 
all   agricultural    improvement    in    central    Italy. 
From  the   top   we   enjoyed   an    extensive    view. 
At   our  feet,   surrounded  by  wooded   eminences, 
and  said   to  have  been  the  crater  of  an  extinct 
volcano,   lay  the    Lake   of  Vico,   whose   waters, 
tradition  affirms,  engulfed  the  city  of  Succinium; 
on  our  right,  beyond  the  desolate  Campagna  di 
Roma,  we  saw  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  on  our  left 
rose    a    few    snowy   peaks   towering    above    the 

Apennines. 

Descending  into  an  uninteresting  valley,  poorly 
cultivated  by  peasants  living  in  exceedingly  dirty 
villages,  we  crossed  another  elevation  near  Bac- 
cand,  and  looked  down  on  some  parts  of  the 
valley  through  which  the  Tiber  flows.  What 
can  that  be  which  appears  like  a  monument  on 
the  shoulder  of  a  hill  some  distance  before  us? 
1  asked  myself  the  question  without  consideration, 
but  the  next  moment  it  flashed  upon  my  mind 


66 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


FIRST   VIEW   OF   ROME. 


67 


that  the  object  to  which  my  ejes  were  directed 
was  none  other  but  the  cross  which  surmounts 
the  stupendous  dome  of  St.  Peter's.  We  were 
travelling  along  the  Cassian  Way,  the  ancient 
high-road  to  Etniria,  and  at  La  Storta  a  postilion 
took  charge  of  our  diligence,  who  urged  the  horses 
into  a  gallop. 

The  sun  was  about  to  set  beyond  the  eminences 
towards  the  west ;  its  parting  rays  cast  a  flood  of 
light  on  the  houseless  Campagna ;    far   away  on 
the   slopes    of    the   Apennines   two   while    spots 
marked  the  sites  of  Tivoli  and  Preneste  ;  a  death- 
like   stillness   prevailed   around   us ;    not   a    tree 
waved  over  the  road,  not  a  bird  sung  in  the  fields  ; 
on  one  hand  an  ancient  tomb   threw  a    shadow 
across  the  highway  to  Veii,  on  the  other  the  eye 
wandered   helplessly  over   the   deserted  plain   in 
search  of  a  green  object  or  a  dwelling  :  all  was 
desolate  and  lonely ;  but  a  feeling  of  breathless 
expectation  silenced  remark.  We  travelled  rapidly, 
but    uttered    not   a   word;    it   seemed   as   if  we 
approached  the  temple  where    the    Goddess    of 
Kuin   dwelt,   and   trembled   lest    a  word   should 
conjure  up   the    ghastly   form   of    the    divinity. 


Before  us  was  the  Milvian  Bridge,  where  Con- 
stantine  saw  in  the  heavens  the  vision  of  a  cross, 
the  emblem  of  truth,  the  antepast  of  victory  ;  and 
a  sweep  of  the  road  revealed  a  scene  so  different 
from  the  gloomy  Campagna,  that  involuntarily 
I  started,  confounded  by  the  sight,  like  the  sailor 
who,  dreaming  of  lowering  clouds  and  heaving 
seas,  awakens  to  behold  the  banana  groves  of  the 
tropics.  Recollections  crowded  into  my  mind. 
Thought  succeeded  thought  too  quickly  to  find 
expression  ;  a  host  of  the  mighty  dead  seemed  to 
pass  across  the  stage,  and  the  songs  of  triumphal 
warriors  to  die  away  on  my  ear,  as  at  length 
alive  to  the  reality  of  the  scene  before  me,  yet 
still  awed  by  the  deserted  grandeur,  the  solemn 
royalty  of  Rome,  I  thought  of  earth's  vicissitudes 
and  of  her  whose  glory  has  departed. 


(( 


The  Niobe  of  Nations  !  there  she  stands, 
Childless  and  crownless,  in  her  voiceless  woe.' 


There  are  several  commanding  eminences,  from 
which  the  stranger  may  obtain  a  bird's-eye  view, 
both  of  the  ancient  monuments  and  of  the  modern 
edifices  of  imperial  Rome, — the  former  peeping 


« 


ll 


68 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


THE   PORTA    DEL   POPOLO. 


G9 


out  amidst  the  gardens  on  the  Esquiline,  Palatine, 
and  Aventine  Hills,  the  latter  occupying  the  level 
plain  at  a  Lend  of  the  Tiber,  called  in  former  ages 
the  Campus  Martins.  He  lives  perhaps  in  one 
of  the  numerous  hotels  or  boarding-houses  in 
and  around  the  Piazza  Spagna,  a  handsome  square 
situated  at  the  base  of  the  Quirinal.  As  soon 
after  his  arrival  as  possible,  let  him  walk  down  the 
Via  Condotti,  wdiere  cameos,  columns,  and  Etruscan 
vases  fill  every  shop-window,  until  he  reach  the 
Corso,  a  long  bustling  street  which  forms  the  great 
artery  of  the  present  city.  "  Can  this  be  the  '  lone 
mother  of  dead  empires  ?'  this  the  decaying  capital 
of  the  Caesars  ?"  he  exclaims,  as  he  passes  cafes 
crowded  with  French  officers,  walls  on  which 
placards,  both  in  Italian  and  in  English,  announce 
the  departure  of  steamers  from  Civita  Yecchia, 
the  publication  of  new  guide-books,  or  the  per- 
formance of  a  recent  comedy  at  the  theatre,  the 
stylish  equipages  of  British  aristocracy,  and  the 
more  lumbering  coaches  of  the  cardinals. 

Surprised  at  the  stirring  appearance  presented 
by  a  place  which  most  people  expect  to  find  only 
venerable   in   its   ruin,  he  turns  to  the  left,  and 


I 


glancing  at  the  Parisian-looking  shops  as  he  walks 
along,  arrives  at  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  an  elegant 
open  space,  designed  by  Michael  Angelo.  An 
Egyptian  obelisk,  brought  by  Augustus  from 
Hierapolis,  with  fountains  and  statues,  adorns  the 
centre  of  this  square.  The  Via  del  Corso  ends  in 
two  churches  exactly  similar  in  architecture,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  street,  and  opposite  to  them  is 
the  Porta  del  Popolo,  so  celebrated  during  the  late 
republican  struggle.  Immediately  overlooking 
this  quarter  of  the  city,  and  laid  out  as  a 
fashionable    promenade-gi'ound,   is    the     Pincian 

Hill. 

Let  us  follow  the  carriage-road,  which  has  been 
carried  in  curves  to  the  top,  for  from  no  other 
point  do  the  domes  of  the  churches,  and  especially 
St.  Peter's,  appear  so  majestic.  At  the  foot  of  this 
elevation,  outside  the  walls,  stood  the  Villa 
Borghese,  embowered  in  beautiful  foliage ;  but 
French  cannon  have  rendered  its  site  nearly  as 
desolate  as  the  Campagna  beyond.  The  gardens 
of  Sallust  look  down  from  the  other  slope  of  this 
eminence  on  the  Campus  Sceleratas,  where  the 
unfaithful  vestals  were  buried  alive. 


< 


70 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


VIEW   FROM   THE  JANICULUM. 


71 


Let  us  contemplate  the  scene  from  a  different 
situation.  We  have  found  our  way  along  the  nar- 
row intricate  streets,  crossed  the  river  hy  the  Fabri- 
cian  Bridge  and  the  island  of  the  Tiber,  formed, 
tradition  says,  by  the  wheat  of  Tarquin  which  the 
people  threw  into  the  stream  further  up,  and  which 
was  here  impeded  in  its  progress  ;  and,  leaving  the 
town  by  the  Porta  Portese,  near  which  the  stranger 
will  be  surprised  to  see  a  few  little  steamers, 
have  driven  along  the  walls  as  far  as  the  Gate  of 
Pancrazio,  where  blackened  remains  of  villas,  shat- 
tered mason-work,  and  injured  plantations,  bear 
witness  to  the  conflict  which  raged  so  fiercely  in 
that  vicinity,  between  the  French  and  the  Roman 
patriots.  Close  to  the  bastion  before  us  was  the 
breach  at  which  Oudinot  entered,  and  at  the  top 
of  the  gardens  attached  to  the  Corsini  Palace, 
within  the  ramparts,  stands  the  house  which  Gari- 
baldi occupied  during  the  siege,  and  wliich  was 
built  on  the  site  of  Martial's  villa.  Scaffolding 
supports  the  half-ruined  archway  through  which 
we  pass  to  climb  to  the  summit  of  the  Janiculum, 
and  the  Church  of  St.  Pietro  in  Montorio,  the  scene 
of  St.  Peter's  crucifixion,  once  containing  famous 


n 


works  of  art,  now  almost  destroyed  by  Gallic 
artillery.  From  this  lofty  elevation  we  can  see 
distinctly  the  seven  hills  on  which  stood  the  ancient 
mistress  of  the  world ;  notwithstanding  the  rub- 
bish which  has  accumulated  to  a  considerable  depth 
in  the  interjacent  valleys,  and  rendered  the  outlines 
of  the  eminences  less  marked  than  formerly.  Very 
near  this  church,  a  noble  fountain  pours  forth  its 
liquid  treasures  into  a  basin  so  large,  that  boys  use 
it  for  a  bathing-place.  Paul  V.  brought  this  stream 
from  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles.  Refreshed  by 
the  coolness  which  it  diffuses  around,  listening  to 
the  music  of  the  falling  waters,  let  us  meditate  on 
the  changed  fortunes  of  the  city  stretched  out  as 
in  a  panorama  to  our  view. 

We  stand  on  the  spot  where  Porsenna  mustered 
his  forces,  and  cast  our  eyes  first  towards  the  gar- 
dens amidst  which  the  Coliseum  rises  like  a  feudal 
tower,  then  to  the  domes  of  Santa  Maria  della 
Maggiore  and  St.  John  Lateran,  between  us  and 
the  more  distant  Apennines,  and  lastly,  towards 
the  proud  cupola  which  St.  Peter's  rears  into  the 
deep  blue  sky.  Few  cities  in  the  world  can  com- 
pare with  Rome  in  respect  to  the  plenty  and  quality 


72 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   SUMMIT   OF   ST.  PETER  S. 


73 


of  the  water  conveyed  to  it.  The  Fonta  Aqua 
Felice,  built  by  Sixtus  Y.,  cools  the  air  on  the 
Monte  Cavallo;  the  Fountain  of  Trevi,  an  immense 
basin  with  statues  and  artilicial  rocks,  affords  a 
plentiful  supply  to  those  who  dwell  near  the  college 
of  the  Propagande  Fide,  at  the  base  of  the  Quirinal ; 
and  the  Aqua  Paolina  at  the  top  of  the  Janiculum, 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  objects  in  every  view 
of  the  seven  hills,  descends  to  enrich  the  fountains 
of  the  Piazza  San  Pietro,  and  crosses  the  Sistine 
Bridge  to  benefit  the  city. 

But  to  enjoy  the  prospect  in  all  its  grandeur, 
we  shall  ascend  to  the  summit  of  St.  Peter's,  to  the 
gilt  ball  which  sparkles  in  the  sunshine,  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  feet  above  the  pavement. 
The  rays  of  heat  have  not  yet  acquired  their  me- 
ridian power;  else  wt  could  with  difficulty  bear 
tlieir  intensity;  but  a  flood  of  liglit  nevertheless 
illumines  the  peaceful  city.  So  far  are  we  exalted, 
that  the  men  and  horses  on  the  Piazza  appear  like 
Gulliver's  Lilliputians,  and  the  Tiber  like  a  silver 
bow,  whose  string  is  the  Via  del  Popolo.  Our 
right  hand  rests  on  the  Janiculum ;  our  left  reposes 
on  the  endless  mason-work  of  the  Vatican,  and  we 


look  down  on  a  maze  of  lofty  houses,  apparently 
w^ithout  a  plan,  in  the  midst  of  which  a  break 
shows  the  site  of  the  Piazza  Navona,  the  market- 
place of  Rome,  where  stands  a  beautiful  obelisk 
found  in  the  circus  of  Caracalla,  and  dedicated  to 
Domitian.  They  sometimes  lay  this  square  under 
water  by  means  of  the  gushing  fountains  in  its 
midst;  above  it  rises  the  cupola  of  St.  Agnes. 
Could  our  eyes  penetrate  into  the  narrow  streets  of 
this  quarter,  we  should  see  the  cooks  busily  em- 
ployed before  their  doors,  undisturbed  by  passing 
carriages  or  cavaliers,  and  priests  whose  name  is 
legion,  hurrying  to  and  fro,  or  gossiping  with  the 
citizens. 

The  inhabitants  of  Rome,  especially  the  women, 
struck  me,  as  a  particularly  fine-looking  race ;  they 
dress  too  with  taste  and  elegance,  notwithstanding 
the  inferiority  of  the  shops;  but  beggars  swarm, 
especially  at  the  church  doors.  Nothing  can  exceed 
the  filthy  state  of  the  suburbs;  well  may  they  be 
called  "  sentina  gentium,"  the  sink  of  nations. 
Yet  the  ancient  city  had  a  thorough  system  of 
drainage;  travellers  yet  visit  the  remains  of  the 
Cloaca  Maxima,  or  great  sewer,  begun  by  Tarquinius 

VOL.  II.  D 


47 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Priscus,  and  completed  by  his  son  Superbus, 
which  carried  into  the  Tiber  the  waters  of  the 
Velabrum  marsh,  at  the  foot  of  the  Palatine;  and 
Agrippa,  history  tells  us,  performed  a  voyage  in  a 
boat  through  the  drains,  in  order  to  superintend 
their  repair;  so  complete,  indeed,  was  the  system 
adopted  for  the  purification  of  the  streets,  that 
Pliny  called  Rome  "  the  hanging  city."  But  the 
Popes  have  not  the  public  spirit  even  of  the  Tar- 
quins  ;  the  Italians  of  the  present  day  seem  insen- 
sible to  odours  which  would  have  filled  with 
consternation  the  polite  court  of  Augustus;  the 
days  of  great  undertakings  have  passed  away,  and 
perhaps  the  descendants  of  the  she-wolf  which 
nursed  Rome's  founder  may  yet  find  a  den  amid 
the  ruins  of  the  Capitol.  One  of  the  most  imposing 
objects  in  the  view  from  the  cupola  of  St.  Peter's, 
is  Fort  St.Angelo,  "the  Mole  which  Hadrian  reared 
on  high  "  for  a  place  of  sepulchre,  deriving  its 
modem  name  from  a  statue  which  surmounts  it, 
representing  the  arcliangel  Michael  with  his  drawn 
sword.  It  was  once  faced  with  Parian  marble; 
but  not  a  slab  of  that  covering  now  remains.  Every 
reader   of  English  poetry  will   recollect   Byron's 


FORT  ST.  ANGELO. 


75 


vigorous  denunciation  of  this  structure,  in  which 
he  rates  the  imperial  builder  as  a  "  colossal  copy- 
ist of  deformity."  The  effect  produced  by  it 
certainly  excited  different  emotions  in  my  mind, 
and  I  am  yet  at  a  loss  to  know  for  what  reason  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo  has  not  been  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  picturesque  edifices  in  modern  Rome. 
As  you  pass  between  the  gigantic  statues  on  the 
parapet  of  the  Elian  Bridge,  which  crosses  the 
Tiber  at  its  gate,  the  seraph  seems  to  brandish  his 
weapon  over  your  head,  and  announce  that  he  has 
been  sent  from  heaven  to  protect  the  Eternal  City 
against  the  infidel. 

Looking  beyond  this  isolated  tomb,  your  eye 
rests  on  the  Pope's  Palace,  occupying  the  summit 
of  the  Quirinal,  now  called  Monte  Cavallo,  from 
two  colossal  groups  of  men  and  horses,  evidently 
of  Grecian  workmanship,  which  surround  the  obe- 
lisk and  fountain  in  the  adjoining  square.  Here 
the  Cardinals  meet  in  conclave  to  elect  a  successor 
to  St.  Peter,  whom,  when  chosen,  they  proclaim 
from  a  window  overlooking  the  Piazza.  More 
distant  still,  the  two  towers  of  Santa  Maria  Mag- 

d2 


76 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


giore  may  be  seen,  and  quite  across  the  city,  at  the 
furthest  wall,  you  distinguish  the  Basilic  of  St. 
John  Lateran.   Turning  slightly  towards  the  south, 
wandering  for  a  minute  over  gardens  and  vineyards, 
your  glance  soon  settles  on  the  Coliseum,  "  a  ruin, 
yet  what  a  ruin !  "  the  quarry  to  which  palaces  and 
churches  owe  their  stones;  near  it,  the  hoary  wreck 
of  Csesar's  Palace  crowns  the  Palatine;  while  to 
the  right,  the  pyramid  of  Caius  Cestius  marks  the 
spot   where  our  countrymen  lie  buried.     Perhaps 
you  may  be  able  to  discover  the  roof  of  the  Temple 
of  Vesta,  whose  nineteen  marble  columns  built  by 
Numa  Pompilius  still  stand,  attesting  the  excellence 
of  ancient  Koman  masonry,  and  forming  one  of  the 
most  interesting  monuments  of  distant  ages  which 
time  has  not  destroyed ;  or  within  a  few  yards  of 
this  venerable  relic,  you  may,  if  quick-sighted,  re- 
mark the  Ponte  Kotto,  the  remains  of  a  bridge, 
the   building   of  which    Michael   Angelo's   rivals 
succeeded  in   entrusting  to  another  architect,  al- 
though the  great  master  had  been  promised  the 
work.     Five  years  after  its  erection,  according  to 
the  prediction  of  the  disappointed  candidate  for  the 


i 


CYPRESS   AND   POMEGRANATE   GROVES.         77 

honour  of  constructing  it,  a  flood  carried  away  the 
insufficient  arches,  and  but  a  wreck  remains. 

The  greater  part  of  the  ground  covered  by  the 
city  in  former  times  has  now  few  inhabitants. 
There  you  wander  among  noble  ruins  enclosed  in 
gardens  and  vineyards,  whose  manifold  beauties 
delight  the  eye ;  days  might  you  meditate  on  the 
Aventine,  Coelian  and  Palatine  Mounts,  among  the 
groves  of  cypress  and  pomegranates,  shaded  from 
the  fierce  rays  by  o'erspreading  fig-trees,  and  inhal- 
ing the  perfume  of  a  thousand  flowers.  The  air  of 
these  solitudes  is  always  laden  with  odours ;  the  ivy 
twines  on  fallen  columns ;  clusters  of  ricli  grapes 
hang  from  imperial  archways,  and  bowers  of  roses 
seem  placed  there  to  invite  meditation  on  the  fate 
of  empires,  to  cast  a  veil  over  the  prostrate  glories 
of  a  kingly  race,  and  by  the  brilliance  of  their 
varied  tints 

"  To  gild  Destruction  with  a  smile, 
And  beautify  Decay." 

With  what  delight  does  your  eye  wander  over 
the  beautiful  belt  of  pleasure-ground  which  with 


\ 


78 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   CAMPAGNA. 


79 


ill 


its  villas  and  wide -spreading  foliage  shuts  out  from 
modern  Rome  the  desolate  treeless  Campagna ! 
From  the  summit  of  St.  Peter's  dome  you  can  trace 
this  girdle  of  gardens,  beginning  at  the  Pincian 
Hill,  and  extending  round  the  dwellings,  till  at 
the  Vatican  it  meets  the  shrubberies  of  the  Pontiff. 
Far  in  the  distance  you  see  the  Apennines,  with 
Tivoli  and  Frascati,  like  white  spots,  on  their 
slopes ;  and  the  roads  to  these  retreats  you  can 
distinctly  trace  across  the  arid  plain.  What  a 
majestic  prospect  is  that,  whose  different  features 
I  have  lightly  traced  ;  one  could  contemplate  it  for 
hours,  his  mind  wandering  to  far  distant  times, 
w^hen  triumphal  processions,  on  their  way  to  the 
temple  of  presiding  Jove,  carried  the  spoils  of 
eastern  capitals, — when  monarchs  from  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Danube  laid  their 
crowns  at  the  feet  of  conquering  Csesar;  then 
the  proud  eagle  waved  from  the  towers  of  that 
palace  on  the  Palatine,  where  the  night-owl  now 
lurks  in  the  ivy,  and  the  falcon  pursues  its 
quivering  prey. 

But  we  have  not  seen  all ;  let  us  turn  to  the 


other  side  of  the  stupendous  dome,  and  look  over 
the    Campagna    to    the    dark    blue    sea.      That 
beautiful  region,  celebrated  in  the  classics  for  the 
fertility  of  its  soil,  has  become  a  howling  wilder- 
ness, where  man  has   no   dwelling,  and   malaria 
forbids  repose.     Once  the  possession  of  an  indus- 
trious peasantry,   who   covered    its   valleys   with 
com,  its  hills  with  vineyards,  and  its  slopes  with 
useful  woods,  spared  by  Alaric,  respected  by  the 
Vandals,  it  became  a  spoil  to  the  rapacious  nobles 
who  strove  for  mastery  in  the  Eternal  City  ;  now 
the   Colonna    set   fire   to   its   forests,— again   the 
Orsini  retaliated  on  the  farms  of  their  Ghibelline 
foes,  till  the  husbandman  deserted  the  smouldering 
ruins   of    his   home,    left    his  fields  to  the  rank 
vegetation  of  a    southern   clime,  and  his   water- 
courses, impeded  in  their  flow,  to  become  deadly 
morasses,  the  nurseries  of  plague.     The  sun  shmes 
beneficently  upon  you  as  you  traverse  this  dreary 
solitude  ;  but  not  a  tree  remains  of  those  forests 
which  afforded  a  grateful  shade  to  the  thirsty  soil ; 
ruined  aqueducts  speak  of  happier  days,  and  long 
matted    grass    obscures   the   sacred   spots,   where 


80 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ITS   UTTER    DESOLATION. 


81 


II 


sleep,  in  forgotten  sepulchres,  ten  thousand  heroes 
who  bore  the  arms  of  Rome. 

The  mischief  commenced   by  the  nobles,   and 
continued   by   the    banditti,    who    prowled   from 
watchtower  to  watchtower  in   medieval    times   in 
searcli  of  plunder,  in  hopes  of  meeting  some  whose 
ransom     would    delight    their    souls,    has    been 
consummated,  confirmed,  legalised    by  avaricious 
priests,  under  whose  government  the  Papal  States 
seem     rapidly    hastening    to    iiTctrievable    ruin. 
Some  attempt  to  account  for  this  sad  change  from 
physical    causes ;    but    man    is    the   culprit,    and 
nature  only  carries  on  the  work  which  his  neglect 
and  violence  began.     You  walk  out  now  on  these 
steppes,  and  a  sense  of  loneliness  soon  creeps  over 
you ;  for  there  is  neither  tree  nor  shrub  to  relieve 
the  eye,  only  do^Tis  and  plaited  grass  and  horrible 
morasses  :  you  sit  down  on  a  stone  to  muse  on 
mankind's  folly,  when  a  troop  of   horses   gallop 
past,  starting  at  the  apparition  of  a  human  form. 
Perchance  you  may  hear  the  tinkling  of  the  goat- 
bells,  or  the  whistling  of  the  plovers  calling  to 
their   mates ;    but   a   house,   or   branch,   or   field 


of  waving  corn,  you  need  not  hope  for  there; 
the  sun  burns  the  blade  of  grass,  the  night  winds 
howl  amid  the  rocks,  and  the  few  wretched 
inhabitants,  who  inhale  the  miasma  of  the  swamps, 
look,  not  like  living  breathing  beings,  but  like 
spectres  walking  in  their  shrouds. 


d3 


I 


INUNDATIONS   OF  THE  TIBER. 


83 


CHAPTER   IV. 

NOTES   ON   THE   RUINS   OF   ROME. 

INUNDATIONS  OF  THE  TIBER — WHO  DESTROYED  THE  MONUMENTS 
OF  ANCIENT  ROME  ? — RIENZI,  LAST  OF  THE  TRIBUNES — THE  CITY 
IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY — CLIMATE  OF  CENTRAL  ITALY — 
THE  PANTHEON — COLUMNS  OF  MARCUS  AURELIUS  AND  TRAJAN — 
BATHS  OF  TITUS,  OF  DIOCLETIAN,  AND  OF  CARACALLA — THE 
APPIAN  WAY — VALLEY  OF  EGERIA — TOMB  OF  CECILIA  METELLA — 
THE  CATACOMBS — ROAD  TO  TIVOLI — MONS  SACER — THE  CAPITOL 
AND  TARPEIAN  ROCK  —  THE  FORUM  ROMANUM — TEMPLE  OF 
JUPITER  TONANS — ARCH  OF  SEPTIMIUS  SEVERUS — THE  MAMMER- 
TINE  PRISON — THE  COLISEUM — ARCHES  OF  TITUS  AND  CONSTAN- 
TtNE — THE  PALATINE  MOUNT,   ITS   RUINS  AND   GARDENS. 

All  students  of  ancient  Roman  history  will 
recollect  how  frequently  the  Tiber,  swollen  by 
heavy  rains,  or  melting  snows  in  the  Apennines, 
overflowed  its  banks  and  carried  away  the  build- 
ings situated  on  the  Campus  Martins.*     Augustus 

*  The  following  lines  of  Horace  will,   perhaps,    revive   the 
memories  of  school-days  : — 

"  Vidimus 


spent  an  enormous  sum  of  money  in  clearing  and 
widening  its  bed ;  indeed,  few  of  the  emperors 
were  not  forced  to  devote  much  of  their  attention 
to  projects  for  preventing  the  periodical  destruction 
caused  by  these  inundations.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  modem  city  have  however  no  occasion  to 
dread  the  recuiTcnce  of  such  a  catastrophe,  for  the 
rubbish  and  soil  washed  down  from  the  adjacent 
hills,  and  the  foundations  of  houses  now  destroyed, 
have  raised  the  level  of  the  plain  about  fifteen  feet. 
Above-ground  we  yet  behold  some  noble  monu- 
ments of  the  days  when  every  known  region 
of  Europe  and  half  of  Asia  obeyed  the  mandates 
of  the  Caesars ;  but  under-ground  there  exists 
a  vast  quarry,  the  excavation  of  which  may  yet 
fill  the  antiquarian  with  joy.  But  who  thus 
mutilated,  shattered,  and  overthrew  the  edifices 
of  the  imperial  city  ?  Oh,  the  Goths  and  Vandals, 
you  reply  ;  like  flights  of  locusts  they  issued  from 
the  forests  of  the  north,  crossed  the  Julian  Alps, 
and    busied   themselves   in   applying   the   besom 

"  Vidimus  flavum  Tiberim,  retortis 
Littore  Etrusco  violenter  undis, 
Ire  dejectum  monumenta  Regis 
Templaque  Vestae." 


84 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


of  destruction  to  the  architectural  triumphs  of  Italy. 
The  answer  may  be  plausible ;  but  it  is  not  true. 
Spoilers  of  a  different  kind  had  the  greatest  share 
in  the  work  of  demolition. 

"The  Eoman  nobility,"  says  Mr.  Hallam* 
"  not  content  with  their  ovm.  fortified  palaces, 
turned  the  sacred  monuments  of  antiquity  into 
strongholds,  and  consummated  the  destruction 
of  time  and  conquest.  At  no  period  has  the  city 
endured  such  irreparable  injuries ;  nor  was  the 
downfall  of  the  Western  empire  so  fatal  to  its 
capital  as  the  contemptible  feuds  of  the  Orsini  and 
Colonna  families." 

Kings  too  had  a  share  in  the  devastation. 
We  are  told  that  Charlemagne  decorated  his 
palace  at  Aix  la  Chapelle  with  marbles  from 
Rome ;  and  many  centuries  afterwards  Robert 
of  Sicily  employed  vessels  in  transporting  to  his 
dominions  the  slabs  and  pillars  of  temples  found 
on  the  seven  hills.  "  Itaque  nunc,  heu  dolor!" 
Petrarch  indignantly  exclaims,  *'  heu  scelus  in- 
dignum !  de  vestris  marmoreis  columnis,  de  limi- 
nibus   templorum    (ad   qu£e    nuper   ex  orbe    toto 

•  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  i.  p.  279. 


RELICS   OF   OLD   ROME. 


85 


concursus  devotissimus  fiebat),  de  imaginibus 
sepulchrorum  sub  quibus  patrum  vestrorum 
venerabilis  civis  erat,  ut  reliquas  sileam,  desidiosa 
Neapolis  adornatur.  Sic  paullatim  ruinai  ipsae 
deficiimt."  In  another  passage  of  his  works  the 
laureate  remarks  that  "  the  citizens  have  done  w^ith 
the  battering  ram,  what  the  Punic  hero  could  not 
accomplish  with  his  sword." 

The  example  thus  set  by  nobles  and  princes 
was  closely  follow^ed  by  several  Pontiffs  of  the 
Church.  Pope  Gregory  I.  waged  war  with  the 
temples  and  statues  found  within  the  walls,  he 
burnt  the  library  on  the  Palatine,  and  anathematized 
all  who  dared  to  admire  the  vestiges  of  former 
greatness.  That  rude  Franciscan,  Sixtus  V., 
adopted  a  similar  course  of  procedure.  *'  Clear 
away  these  ugly  antiquities,"  he  replied  to  the 
remonstrances  of  a  more  enlightened  Cardinal ; 
he  totally  destroyed  the  Septizonium  of  Severus, 
and  threatened  to  blow  up  the  Capitol  if  the 
Grecian  statues  were  not  taken  away.  Had  death 
not  happily  removed  the  barbarian  from  the  scene 
of  his  havoc,  the  tomb  of  Cecilia  Metella  would 


86 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   LAST   OF  THE  TRIBUNES. 


87 


have  been  reduced  to  a  shapeless  mass  of  ruins  ; 
and  as  it  is,  he  pulled  down  some  of  the  noblest 
relics  of  the  Augustan  age  to  build  the  tasteless 
palace  of  the  Lateran. 

In  those  days  every  one  regarded  the  ruins  only 
as  so  many  quarries,  from  which  the  nobles  might 
erect  their  watch-towers,  the  peasants  their  farm 
offices,  and  the  priests  their  sacred  domes.  The 
theatre  of  Marcellus  was  a  stronghold,  fortified  by 
the  Savelli ;  even  the  remains  of  the  numerous 
temples  which  formerly  covered  the  Aventine, 
have  now  disappeared,  and  columns,  which  once 
adorned  the  habitation  of  Capitoline  Jove,  now 
contribute  to  the  great  Church  of  St.  Peter's.  Even 
the  shrines  of  Venus  were  desecrated  to  afford 
materials  for  the  erection  of  Christian  temples. 

Near  the  ruins  of  the  Palatine  Bridge,  ad- 
joining that  beautiful  building  whicli  Servius 
Sullius  dedicated  to  Fortuna  Virilis,  the  stranger 
Avill  find  the  house  where  dwelt  Cola  di  Rienzi, 
last  of  the  Koman  tribunes.  Byron  calls  him 
"  The  friend  of  Petrarch— hope  of  Italy,"  and  he 
won  the  heart  of  the  patriotic  jwet,  by  his  stem 


denunciation  of  those  arlstocratical  and  priestly 
spoliators  who  rioted  among  the  prostrate  monu- 
ments of  a  greater  age.  There  are  few  characters 
in  history  so  romantic  as  that  of  him  who  revived 
for  a  little  time  the  free  institutions  of  a  people 
whose  virtue  had  been  corrupted  and  whose  spirit 
was  gone.  For  a  time  *' the  fire  of  old  Rome" 
seemed  to  have  returned  ;  but  it  blazed  only  for  a 
moment,  to  expire  in  deeper  gloom.  ^ 

In  the  fifteenth  century  Rome  was  the  abode 
of  herdsmen  ;  the  elevations  had  been  forsaken, 
and  a  few  dwellings,  huddled  together  along 
the  river,  alone  indicated  the  site  of  the  world's 
capital ;  morasses  occupied  the  low  ground, 
wild  cattle  fed  on  the  eminences ;  the  seat  of 
Jupiter  Tonans  had  become  "  the  hill  of  the 
goats,"  and  the  Forum  Romanum  ''  the  cows' 
field." 

In  the  year  1443,  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  returned 
from  Avignon  to  restore  the  glories  of  the 
"  Eternal  City,"  which  his  predecessors  had  de- 
serted ;  but  a  considerable  time  after  that  happy 
event,  Poggius  thus  moralises  from  his  station  on 
the    Capitoline    Hill ;    '*  Ut    nunc    omni    decore 


\ 


88 


THE   TAG  US   AND   THE   TIBER. 


11 


nudata,  prostrata  jacet,  instar  gigantei  cadaveris 
corrupt!  atque  undique  exesi.  Conscdimus  in 
ipsis  Tarpeiae  arcis  minis,  pone  ingens  porta? 
cujusdam,  iit  puto,  terapli,  marmoreuni  limcn, 
plurimasque  passim  confractas  columnas,  unde 
magna  ex  parte  prospectus  urbis  patet,  Capitolium 
adeo  immutatum  ut  vinea?  in  senatorum  subsellia 
successerint,  stercorum  ac  purgamentorum  recep- 
taculum  factum.  Respice  ad  Palatinum  montem — 
vasta  rudera — cateros  colics  perlustra,  omnia  vacua 
sediiiciis,  minis  vineisque  oppleta  conspicies."* 

While  wandering  amidst  the  mins  of  ancient 
Rome,  and  meditating  on  those  causes  which  con- 
tributed to  make  desolate  the  sites  of  buildino-s 
famed  in  a  classic  age,  I  found  myself  constantly 
repeating  the  expressive  lines  in  Crabbe's  ballad 
of  Sir  Eustace  Grey, — 

"  Vast  ruins  in  the  midst  were  spread, 
Pillars  and  pediments  sublime, 
Where  the  grey  moss  had  form'd  a  bed, 
And  clothed  the  crumbling  spoils  of  Time." 

There  is  a  brilliance  in  tlie  climate  of  Central 

*  De  Varietate  Fortunae. 


DELIGHTFUL    CLIMATE. 


89 


Italy,  which  cheers  even  these  solitudes.  The 
gloom  of  a  northern  atmosphere  would  fill  them 
with  phantoms,  the  spectres  of  a  vanished  race, 
risen  to  avenge  the  desecration  of  their  tombs ; 
but  in  the  rosy  light  of  morn,  or  the  more  chas- 
tened rays  of  evening,  you  can  admire  the  lux- 
uriance of  nature,  amid  the  ruins  of  art,  or  the 
remains  of  fallen  fanes  and  prostrate  columns. 
You  may  breathe  the  fragrance  of  wall-flower, 
and  gather  the  rich  clusters  of  the  vine,  while  the 
fig-tree  shelters  your  bower,  and  the  bright  flowers 
of  the  pomegranate  wave  in  a  breeze,  which 
seems,  as  if  lulled  by  the  loveliness  of  these 
gardens,  to  die  away  among  the  foliage. 

I  sometimes  thought,  while  walking  in  the  \4ne- 
yards  of  the  Aventine,  that  the  scene  might  once 
more  inspire  the  muse  of  Virgil,  could  he  revisit 
the  groves  where  Maecenas  patronised  his  rustic 
songs. 

The  first  visit  I  paid  in  Rome  was  to  the 
Pantheon.  There  is  something  sublime  in  a  build- 
ing which  has  stood  1878  years,  and  formed  a 
temple  for  the  worship  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  of  the 


jHI  I 


90 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


divinities  of  a  heathen  age.  Akenside,  in  one  of 
his  odes,  graphically  describes  it  as  standing 

"  Amid  the  toys  of  idle  state, 
How  simply,  how  severely  great." 

No  excessive  ornament  detracts  from  the  erect 
grandeur  of  this  venerable  dome ;  it  seems  old 
and  frail,  but  shows  no  signs  of  dissolution.  Like 
an  aged  patriarch,  who  has  lived  contented  and 
frugally,  it  bears  the  marks  of  time,  but  preserves 
the  vigour  of  youth.  Centuries  have  rolled  away 
since  its  noble  portico  first  received  the  worshippers 
of  the  gods  ;  but  these  columns  bid  fair  even  yet 
to  survive  the  fall  of  modern  monuments.  In  the 
neighbouring  Piazza  Colonna  stands  the  column  of 
Marcus  Aurelius,  raised  by  the  senate  to  com- 
memorate his  German  victories.  It  is  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  feet  high, — only  four  feet  lower 
than  the  still  more  beautiful  pillar  in  the  Forum 
of  Trajan,  which  celebrates  that  emperor's  victories 
over  the  Dacians.  The  bas-reliefs  on  these  co- 
lumns have  serv^ed  as  models  to  sculptors  in  all 
ages ;  those   on   the   latter   represent   2,500   male 


THERMAE. 


91 


fio-ures,  besides  animals,  chariots,  &c.  The  splen- 
dour  of  the  workmanship  has  not  yet  been  equalled 
by  modem  art,  but  remains  in  the  presence  of  in- 
credulous men,   to   attest  the  high  civilization  of 

the  empire. 

The  thermae  of  Home  were  originally  designed 
for   baths ;  but   in   process  of  time  had   gardens, 
theatres,   museums,   and  libraries  added  to  them, 
—in  fact,  became  public  lounges.     Titus  erected 
those    bearing    his    name    above   the    palace    of 
Nero,  the  rooms  of  which  are  now  subterranean. 
An  old  guide  conducts  the  stranger  through  these 
spacious  chambers,    and,    exalting   a    torch   on    a 
pole,  shows  him  the  remains  of  fresco  paintings, 
whose  colours  have  defied  the  efforts  of  time.     So 
beautiful  are  they,  that  Raffaelle  copied  from  them 
several    of    his   designs   for   the   Loggie   of    the 
Vatican.     On   the  summit  of  the  Esquiline,  now 
used  as  magazines  for  hay  and  barracks  for  French 
soldiers,  are  the  enormous  therms  of  Diocletian, 
covering  an  enclosure  upwards  of  4,000  feet    m 
circuit ;  they  afforded  room  for  3,200  bathers.    But 
by  far  the  grandest  ruins  are  those  of  the  Baths 
of  Caracalla,  situated  among  beautiful  vineyards 


92 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


VALLEY  OF   EGERIA. 


93 


!' 


in  the  Appian  Way.  Several  of  the  Mosaic  pave- 
ments have  been  well  preserved,  and  the  arches 
stmck  me  as  of  extraordinary  span.  The  guide 
conducted  us,  in  due  form,  to  the  apartments  where 
were  the  hot,  cold,  and  vapour  baths,  the  swim- 
ming-halls, the  library,  robing-room,  theatre,  and 
many  other  chambers  of  vast  size,  still  majestic 
in  their  decay,  though  huge  fragments  have  fallen 
from  the  roof,  and  lie  on  the  marble  floors.  Many 
of  the  finest  statues  were  found  when  they  cleared 
away  the  rubbish  from  this  enormous  edifice. 
The  gigantic  walls,  the  extent  of  the  rooms,  and 
the  height  of  the  porticoes,  impress  one  witli 
respect  for  the  grandeur  of  conception  displayed 
by  the  Romans,  even  during  the  declining  days 
of  the  empire. 

Between  the  Flaminian  Way  and  the  Tiber, 
completely  blocked  up  by,  and  indeed  forming  the 
support  of  houses,  you  will  experience  great  dif- 
ficulty in  finding  the  Mausoleum  of  Augustus,  a 
lofty  circular  building,  exactly  similar  to  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo.  A  considerable  portion  of 
it  still  remains,  but  so  hidden  by  the  dwellings  of 
one  of  the  most  densely-peopled  parts  of  the  city, 


that  you  may  pass  close  to  it  frequently  without 
observing  its  moss-covered  walls. 

Of  all  the  drives  around  Rome,  none  pleased 
me  so  much  as  that  along  the  Appian  Way.     For 
a  mile  or  two  we  passed  between  gardens  shaded 
by  the  leaves  of  the  fig-tree,  adorned  by  the  scarlet 
flowers  of  the  pomegranate,  and  watered  by  little 
courses  which  the  aqueducts  supply.     In  the  cool- 
ness  of  evening,    when   a   mellowed  light  tinges 
the  Apennines,  and  a  gentle  breeze  refreshes  the 
heated  air,  how  delicious  slowly  to  pursue  one's 
way   between   the   imposing   ruins   of  Caracalla's 
Baths  and  the  more  modest  tombs  of  the  Scipios, 
passing  through  the  Arch  of  Drusus  to  survey  the 
remains  of  the  aqueduct  which  Claudius  formed  to 
supply  this   part  of  the  ancient   city ;    and  then, 
leaving  the  walls  by  the  Gate  of  St.  Sebastian,  to 
meditate,    during  eventide,    in   the   fields  of  that 
very  Valley   of  Egeria   where    Numa   Pompilius 
received   from  the  goddess  all  his  laws   respect- 
ing  the    arts  of   peace   and  the   worship  of   the 
divinities !      Let    us    descend  from    our   carriage 
to    the   vineyards   which   now   cover  that  sacred 
spot,  and  return  to  wonder  at   the  vast  Circus  of 


I 


94 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Romulus,  1,700  feet  long,   by    260   broad,   over- 
looked by 

"  A  Btem  round  tower  of  other  days," — 

the  lofty  tomb  which  contains  the  ashes  of  Cecilia 
Metella,  and  forms  one  of  the  most  interesting 
remnants  of  antiquity  within  the  territories  of  the 
Papal  See.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Appian  Way 
from  this  ivy-covered  monument,  you  observe  a 
small  unpretending  church,  almost  hidden  by 
foliage.  It  belongs  to  the  indigent  monks  of 
St.  Francis  d'Assisi,  and  constitutes  one  of  the 
seven  basilics  of  Rome ;  for  under  it  are  the  Cata- 
combs, the  subterranean  galleries  in  the  rock 
where  the  persecuted  Christians  worshipped,  and 
buried  their  dead.  Tradition  tells  us,  that  fourteen 
popes  and  170,000  Nazarenes  there  lie  interred. 
We  entered  the  open  door  of  the  place  of  worship, 
and  pulled  a  bell  communicating  wnth  the  adjacent 
monastery.  By-and-by  a  careworn,  miserable 
man  appeared,  dressed  in  the  scanty  garments  of 
the  brotherhood ;  and,  handing  candles  to  each  of 
us,  led  the  way  down  to  the  gloomy  corridors, 
where  Peter  is  said  to  have  declared  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ. 


MONS   SACER. 


95 


Will  the  reader  follow  me  now  in  another  di- 
rection? Ascending  the  Monte  Cavallo,  we  pass 
between  the  gardens  of  Sallust  and  the  Esquiline, 
and,  driving  through  the  Porta  Salaria,  the  same 
by  which  Alaric  entered  in  triumph,  visit  the 
Villa  Albani,  to  see  Rafael  Mengs'  beautiful  fresco 
of  Apollo  and  Mnemosyne  on  Parnassus  with  the 
Muses.  Then  we  turn  to  the  left,  and  join  the 
road  wliich  leads  from  the  Porta  Pia,  by  the  Villa 
Torlonia  and  church  of  St.  Agnes,  across  the  Cam- 
pagna  to  Tivoli.  Gradually ^we  leave  behind  us  the 
vineyards  and  gardens  which  form  a  belt  round  the 
city,  and  enter  the  desolate  downs  on  the  banks  of 
the  Anio,  where,  in  a  little  rounded  eminence,  soli- 
tary as  the  ocean,  we  recognise  Mons  Sacer,  famous 
for  the  secessions  of  the  Roman  plebeians,  the  scene 
of  Menenius  Agrippa's  fabulous  exhortations.  But 
we  are  now  a  long  way  from  the  Piazza  Spagna ; 
the  sun  has  set  behind  St.  Peter's ;  and  in  these 
southern  regions  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  no 
twilight  befriends  the  wanderer,  but,  soon  as  the 
orb  of  day  has  declined  in  the  western  horizon, 
"  the  shadows  fall,"  the  stars  rush  out,  and  "  at 
one  stride  comes  the  dark." 


96 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBER. 


COLUMN   OF   PHOCAS. 


97 


But  we  have  yet  by  far  the  most  interesting 
part  of  the  ruins  to  survey.  We  shall,  for  this 
purpose,  ascend  to  the  top  of  the  Capitol,  and  stand 
on  the  brink  of  the  celebrated  Tarpeian  Rock,  "  the 
promontory  whence  the  Traitor's-leap  cured  all  am- 
bition." Its  height  has  been  much  lessened  by  rub- 
bish accumulated  below;  but  still  no  one  would 
exactly  choose  to  cast  himself  from  its  summit 
into  the  gardens  beneath  it.  We  look  down  upon 
the  ancient  Forum,  known  to  every  schoolboy 
from  his  earliest  years.  It  occupies  the  low 
ground  between  the  Capitoline  and  Palatine  Hills, 
and  around  it  stood  the  Senate-house,  the  Comi- 
tium,  and  other  buildings  famous  in  the  classics. 

Immediately  at  the  foot  of  the  rock  on  which 
we  have  taken  our  position,  are  three  splendid 
isolated  Corinthian  columns,  supporting  a  sculp- 
tured frieze  of  beautiful  workmanship.  This  con- 
stitutes all  that  remains  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter 
Tonans.  Close  to  it  eight  Ionic  pillars  of  Egyptian 
granite,  forty  feet  high,  and  all  of  different  dia- 
meter, indicate  the  site  of  the  Temple  of  Fortune  ; 
while  a  little  to  the  left  the  arch  of  Septimius 
Severus,  raised  by  the  "  senatus  populusque,"  com- 


memorates the  victories  gained  by  that  emperor  in 
the  East.  This  highly  decorated  monument  is  in 
excellent  preservation.  Within  a  few  yards  of  its 
archway,  a  narrow  stair  descends  into  the  sub- 
terranean cavern,  formerly  called  the  Mamertine 
prison,  built  by  Ancus  Martius,  and  rendered  more 
famous,  in  after  times,  by  the  tradition  that  the 
apostles  Peter  and  Paul  were  there  confined,  under 
Nero.*  Here  we  put  our  hands  into  the  cavity 
in  the  rock,  said  to  have  been  caused  by  St. 
Peter's  head,  (!)  and  drank  of  the  stream  of 
water  used  at  the  baptism  of  Processus  and  Mar- 
tinian,  the  keepers  of  the  dungeon,  whom  their 
prisoners  converted  from  heathen  error  to  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

The  single  column  of  Phocas  stands  by  itself, 
at  the  side  of  the  Via  Sacra,  so  called  from  the 
sacrifices  which  accompanied  the  peace  between 
Romulus  and  Tatius.  It  commences  at  the  Coli- 
seum, passes  the  temples  of  Romulus  and  Remus, 
the  splendid  remains  of  the  temple  of  Sesostris, 

•  The  classical  scholar  will  recollect  that  Jugurtha,  Zenobia, 
the  confederates  of  Catiline,  and  other  illustrious  prisoners, 
were  likewise  confined  in  this  dungeon. 


VOL.  II. 


£ 


) 


98 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE  COLISEUM. 


99 


the  nine  columns  of  tlie  temple  of  Antoninus  and 
Faustina,  tlie  Curia  Hostilia,  the  Basilic  of 
Constantine,  and  the  beautiful  arch  of  Titus,  and 
enters  at  the  Fabian  gate  the  Roman  Forum. 
Hiis  cluster  of  noble  niins  has  been  often  de- 
scribed, and  as  often  represented  in  engravings. 
There  was  the  heart  of  the  ancient  city,  and  from 
thence  emanated  laws  which  were  obeyed  from 
the  Euphrates  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  from  the 
Danube  to  the  Mountains  of  Mauritania,  and 
the  Cataracts  of  the  Nile.  The  moderns  have 
deserted  this  splendid  site,  to  build  on  the  plain 
below ;  and  if  Poggius  could  resume  his  musings 
on  the  Palatine,  he  would  still  see  only  desolation, 
and  mourn  over  decay. 

Let  us  now,  holding  our  breath— for  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  building  oppresses  our  feelings— enter 
the  great  amphitheatre  of  Titus,  the  wonderful 
Coliseum,—"  an  edifice,"  says  Gibbon,*  "  which, 
had  it  been  left  to  time  and  nature,  might  perhaps 
have  claimed  an  eternal  duration." 

Every  one  knows  the  history  and  uses  of  this 
famous  structure.     Having  been  converted  into  a 

*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  vol.  viii.  p.  456. 


fortress  by  the  Frangipani  and  Anibaldi  during 
the  days  of  aristocratic  feuds,  it  suffered  much 
from  the  hands  of  violence;  but  still  it  stands 
unequalled  in  the  wide  world  as  a  relic  of  the  past. 
It  had  a  triple  row  of  arcades,  raised  one  above 
another,  and  each  consisting  of  eighty  arches. 
The  form  is  oval,  the  height  157  feet,  the  cir- 
cumference more  than  one-third  of  a  mile ;  on  its 
benches  87,000  people  could  be  accommodated, 
wliile  20,000  more  stood  on  the  terrace  above. 
These  figures  give  some  idea  of  its  vastness ;  but 
the  bird's-eye  view  from  the  highest  tier  exceeds 
all  description ;  and  when  the  moonbeams  shine 
through  the  ruined  gateways,  the  effect  mocks  the 
power  of  language.  To  the  well-known  stanzas 
in  the  fourth  canto  of  "  Childe  Harold"  the 
reader  must  refer  for  by  far  the  most  graphic 
wi'itten  account  of  this  stupendous  edifice,  and 
the  feelings  which  it  produces  in  a  susceptible 
mind. 

You  sit  on  a  crumbling  bench  of  stone,  and 
listen  to  the  moaning  of  the  wind  as  it  passes 
through  the  arches :  can  this  be  the  suppressed 
roar  of  the  African  lion,  or  is  it  the  last  exclama- 

e2 


100 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


tion  of  the  gladiator  who  has  been  carried  out  to 
(liey_the  sigh,  perhaps,  of  some  holy  martyr  to 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  who  has 
been  sacrificed  to  gratify  the  brutal  passions  of  a 
people  thirsting  for  that  sort  of  excitement  which 
calls  loudly  for  blood.  You  cast  a  hurried  glance 
down  to  the  arena,  almost  expecting  to  see  the 
wild  beast  seize  his  victim  ;  or  up  to  the  regal 
box,  where  Caligula  smiled  as  the  tigers  tore  out 
the  hearts  of  his  fellow-men ;— you  feel  mentally 
transported  to  those  rude  days,  and  can  scarcely 
realize  the  pleasant  fact,  that  now  no  one  appears 
on  that  once  cruel  stage  but  the  Christian  stranger, 
who  execrates  the  sports  of  Eome. 

Between  the  Ccelian  and  the  Palatine  hills 
stands  the  Arch  of  Constantine,  consisting  of 
three  arcades,  eight  Corinthian  columns,  and 
several  bas-reliefs  in  excellent  preservation.  To 
adorn  this  edifice,  the  subservient  senate,  after  the 
defeat  of  Maxentius,  stripped  many  of  the  figures 
oft^  the  Pillar  of  Trajan,  thus  mutilating  an  old 
monument  to  disfigure  a  new;  for  what  can  be 
more  out  of  place  than  Parthian  captives  at  the 
feet  of  an  emperor  who  never  encountered  that 


THE   PALATIKE. 


101 


nation,  and  the  head  of  Trajan  placed  on  the 
body  of  one  of  Constantine's  enemies?  This 
trophy  remains  a  monument  of  senatorial  syco- 
phancy and  artistic  decay. 

I  conclude  this  brief  sketch  of  a  few  of  those 
venerable  ruins  which  have  attracted  strangers  of 
all  nations  to  Eome,  by  asking  my  reader  to  return 
with  me  once  more  to  the  Appian  Way,  and  enter- 
ing a  vineyard  by  a  little  door,  climb  to  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Palatine,  to  enjoy  the  splendid  prospect 
of  the  seven  hills,  which  presents  itself  from  the 
Palace  of  the  Caesars.     Three  thousand  columns 
once  adorned    an    edifice   whose  crumbling  walls 
now  form  lurking-places  for  the  birds  of  night — 
in  whose  saloons  the  gardener  cultivates  his  vege- 
tables— and  whose  towers  are  crowned  with  ever- 
green oaks,  and   cased  by  entwining  ivy.     Here 
Nero  held  his  bacchanalian  orgies — hitlier  Augus- 
tus invited  learned  men — within  these  halls  Cali- 
gula devised   new   schemes   of  bloodshed.     How 
splendid  wxre   the  apartments   in   these  days   of 
Roman  power !  and  they  are  beautiful  still ;   true, 
the  gold  and  purple  have  vanished,  the  menials 


«)^£«^^!l«*»^g«^^;^#^gf-^"--' 


102 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


have  ceased  to  attend  in  the  vestibule  ;  the 
pageantry  of  the  court  is  no  more  ;  but  perhaps 
few  spots  in  Europe  can  compare,  in  point  of 
romantic  loveliness,  with  the  groves  of  oak,  the 
cypress  thickets,  and  the  bowers  of  jessamine, 
which  mingle  with  the  ruins  on  the  Palatine. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CHURCHES   OF    ROME — BASILICS    OF    ST.  PAUL,    SANTA   CROCE,   AND 
SANTA  MARIA  MAGGIORE— PIAZZA  ST.  PIETRO — FIRST  IMPRESSIONS 

OF  ST.  Peter's— ITS  colossal  dome — statuary  in  the  interior 
— canova'b  monument  to  clement  xiil— feast  of  corpus 

DOMINI — procession  OF  ECCLESIASTICS — THE  MONKS,  PRELATES, 
AND  CARDINAI^— PIO  NONO— GENERAL  GEMEAU— THE  POPE's 
BENEDICTION  FROM  THE  HIGH  ALTAR  OF  ST.  PETER'S — ENGLISH 
SPECTATORS — FEELINGS  PRODUCED  BY  THE  CEREMONY— PRO- 
CESSION OF  THE  HOLY  SACRAMENT  IN  THE  SQUARE  OP  THE 
LATERAN — THE  SCALA  SANTA — FESTIVAL  OF  ST.  JOHN  THE  BAP- 
TIST IN  THE  LATERAN  CHURCH — ARRIVAL  OF  THE  POPE— THK 
SWISS  GUARDS — PIO  NONO  ON  HIS  PONTIFICAL  THRONE — HOMAGE 
OF    THE    CARDINALS — THE    CISTINE    CHAPEL — MICHAEL  ANGELO's 


"  LAST  judgment" — THE  VATICAN    PALACE- 


-RAFFAELLE'S  "  LOG- 
GIE" — GENIUS  OF  THAT  PAINTER— POMPEY's  STATUE  IN  THK 
8PADA  PALACE— ST.  PIETRO  IN  VINCOLI— MICHAEL  ANGELO's 
"  MOSES  "—GALLERY  ON  THE  CAPITOL— DOMENICHINO'S  "CUM.^AN 
sybil" — "THE  BRONZE  WOLF" — "THE  DYING  GLADIATOR"— 
STATUARY  IN  THE  VATICAN— THE  "LAOCOON"  AND  "  APOLLO 
BELVIDERE" — QUERCINO'S  PICTURES— THE  THREE  "  ECCE  HOMOS" 
IN  THE  CORSINI  PALACE — "  THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  ST.  SEBASTIAN" — 
GUIDO'S  "BEATRICE  CENCi" — HIS  FRESCO  OF  "  AURORA"  IN  THE 
PAVILION  OF  THE  ROSPIGLIOSI  PALACE  —  PAINTINGS  IN  THE 
VATICAN — DOMENICHINO'S  "ST.  JEROME " — RAFFAELLE'S  "CORO- 
NATION OF  THE  virgin"  AND  "MADONNA  DE  FOLIGNO"— THK 
"transfiguration"  —  NOTES  ON  RAPFAELLE's  PICTURES  — 
PEELINGS   ON   LEAVING   ROME. 

Two  or  three  miles  down  the  Tiber  stands  the 
Basilic  of  St.  Paul,  originally  erected  by  Constan- 


104 


THE   TAGtS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


tine  over  the  cemetery  where,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was  buried.  A 
fire  in  1823  consumed  the  greater  part  of  this 
edifice,  which  is  now  being  rebuilt  in  a  style  of 
splendour  perhaps  unequalled  in  Europe.  Eighty- 
eight  columns  of  the  finest  Carrara  marble  support 
a  roof  resplendent  with  gold,  and  the  walls  will, 
wlien  finished,  be  faced  with  the  same  material. 
The  cost  of  the  undertaking— an  extravagant  one, 
considering  the  financial  condition  of  the  country 
—  has  yet  to  be  ascertained,  but  it  must  be 
enormous. 

Near  the  Porta  Maggiore,  built  by  the  Emperor 
Claudius  to  carry  his  noble  aqueduct  over  the 
roads  to  Labicum  and  Preneste,  the  stranger  will 
find  the  Basilic  of  Santa  Croce,  which  contains  a 
large  portion  of  the  holy  cross  found  by  St.  Helena 
in  Jerusalem,  some  of  our  Saviour's  thorns,  and 
other  relics,  to  doubt  the  authenticity  of  which, 
would  be  considered  the  direst  heresy.  Prostrate 
before  the  case  enclosing  these  trumpery  fabrica- 
tions, may  generally  be  seen  some  deluded  votaries, 
whose  uplifted  hands,  and  rapt  expressions,  testify 
how  firmly  they  believe  in  the  sanctity  of  the  place 
dedicated  to  the  accursed  tree. 


ST.  PETER^S. 


105 


The  Basilic  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  the  chief 
church  in  Christendom  over  which  the  Virgin  pre- 
sides, stands  on  the  top  of  the  Esquiline  hill,  and 
appears  conspicuously  in  most  views  of  the  city. 
The  chapels  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  and  the  Bor- 
ghese  family  are  rich  with  gilding  and  jewels,  but 
few  men  of  taste  will  admire  either  the  external 
architecture,  or  the  internal  decoration,  of  this 
structure. 

We  arrived  in  Rome  shortly  before  the  feast  of 
Corpus  Domini,  and  first  entered  St.  Peter's,  to 
hear  the  chanting  at  vespers  on  the  preceding 
evening.  Most  people  are  familiar  with  the 
general  appearance  and  situation  of  that  august 
temple,  which  took  150  years  to  complete,  and  is 
perhaps  the  most  wonderful  display  of  architec- 
tural vastness  in  Christendom.  It  stands  on  the 
slope  of  the  Vatican  hill,  looking  over  the  Tiber 
and  the  houses  of  the  modern  city  towards  the 
Quirinal.  The  way  to  it  leads  through  narrow 
streets,  inhabited  by  an  indigent  population.  Sud- 
denly emerging  from  them,  we  found  ourselves  in 
the  Piazza  St.  Pietro,  a  spacious  ellipsis,  upwards 
of  1,000  feet  in  length,  having  on  each  side  four 

E  3 


106 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


rows  of  columns,  which  support  a  balustrade  form- 
ing the  pedestal  of  192  statues.  In  the  centre 
stands  an  Egyptian  obelisk,  brought  from  Ileli- 
opolis,  and  two  handsome  fountains. 

In  common  with  many  othere,  I  must  confess 
my  disappointment  with  the  first  view  of  St. 
Peter's.  It  affords  a  remarkable  instance  of  how 
much  the  effect  of  vastness  of  dimension  may  be 
lessened  by  variety  of  architecture ;  you  cannot^ 
realize  the  sublimity  of  the  whole,  for  the  j^cirts 
divert  your  attention,  whether  you  will  or  not. 
Is  this  the  church,  you  say,  which  excels  all 
others  in  magnitude,  on  which  Michael  Angelo, 
Kaffaelle,  Bramante,  and  Bernini,  exercised  their 
powers?  But  when  you  begin  to  compare  the 
statues,  or  pillars,  witli  the  stature  of  living  men, 
— when  you  have  time,  one  by  one,  to  study  the 
details  of  the  building,— its  colossal  proportions 
stand  out,  as  it  were,  in  greater  relief,  the  littleness 
of  surrounding  objects  becomes  more  \dsible ;  and 
as  your  eye  wanders  from  the  flight  of  steps  lead- 
ing to  the  great  door,  to  the  figures  above  the 
facade,  and  from  thence  upwards  to  the  summit 
of  the  stupendous  dome,  you  feel  growing  upon 


ST.  Peter's. 


107 


your  mind  that  impression  of  the  gigantic  which 
the  stranger  generally  bears  with  him  to  his  dis- 
tant home. 

To  the  architecture  of  the  front  few  will  become 
reconciled  ;  I  never  looked  at  it  without  lamenting 
that  Bramante  did  not  live  to  carry  out  that  plan 
which  St.  Gallo  and  Mademi  have  so  barbarously 
altered;  but  the  dome  appears  more  and  more 
sublime  on  every  successive  visit.  Gazing  on  the 
gilded  ball  which  surmounts  the  giant  cupola, 
your  mind  seems  to  dilate,  till,  forgetting  the  in- 
significance of  earthly  things,  you  rise  to  the  full 
understanding  of  the  shrine  before  you ;  the  pro- 
portions of  the  edifice  expand  as  you  carefully  con- 
template them  ;  gradually  feelings  too  rare  for 
ordinary  expression  banish  every  sense  of  disap- 
pointment, and  a  reverential  awe  creeps  over  you, 
produced  by  immensity,  and  similar  to  that  expe- 
rienced by  the  visitor  to  Chamouni,  when,  three 
hours  after  the  sun  has  set  behind  the  hill  of  For- 
claz,  he  beholds  it  illuminating  the  snows  on  the 
summit  of  Mont  Blanc. 

Some  writers  estimate  that  St.  Peter's  cost  twelve 
millions   sterhng.     With   what   important    conse- 


108 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


quences  was  this  outlay  fraught  to  tlie  nations  of 
the  world  !  Little  did  Bramante  and  Michael  An- 
gelo  think,  when  they  projected  this  vast  work,  that 
the  sale  of  indulgences  to  defray  its  expenses  would 
bring  about  a  mighty  reformation  of  the  Romish 
Church.  The  Pope  reared  a  monument  which 
forms  the  wonder  of  succeeding  ages ;  Imt  in  doing 
so,  he  gave  tlic  signal  to  ^lartin  Luther  to  begin 
that  war  which  ended  in  the  triumph  of  Protest- 
antism among  tlie  most  energetic  nations  of  Europe. 
This  unexpected  result  may  prove  to  us,  that  a 
greater  than  Rome's  Pontiff  is  the  Head  of  the 
Christian  Church ;  that  the  worldly  wisdom  of 
Leo  was  purposely  turned  into  folly  by  Ilim 
who  sitteth  on  the  circle  of  the  Heavens,  and  con- 
founds the  designs  of  the  proud. 

The  thirteen  gigantic  statues  above  the  facade 
of  St.  Peter's,  represent  our  Saviour  and  his  twelve 
apostles;  you  can  Avalk  on  the  flat  roof  beside 
tliem,  and  survey  the  proportions  of  that  dome 
which  rises  four  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet 
above  the  pavement.  The  interior,  which  forms  a 
Latin  cross,  is  divided  by  Corinthian  pillars  into 
three  naves :  under  the  high  altar  you  descend  a 


ST.  PETER  S. 


109 


I 


r 


few  steps  to  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter,  and  Canova's 
celebrated  statue  of    Pius  VI;    looking   upwards 
from    which   you   behold   the  top  of    the  cupola, 
with  the  inscription  in  large  letters  on  its  frieze  : 
"  Tu  es  Petrus,  et  super  banc  Petram  sedificabo 
ecclesiam  meam,  et  tibi  dabo  claves  regni  coelorum." 
Who  has  not  heard  of  the  tombs  which  decorate 
the  principal  church  of  Christendom?     A  pyramid 
of  white  marble  in  relief,  near  the  entrance  door, 
the  work  of  Canova,  marks  the  final  resting-place 
pf  the  last  three  of  the  Stuarts ;  and  Thorwaldsen 
has  a  noble  monument  to  Pius  VII. ;  but  the  piece 
of  sculpture  which  pleased  me  most,  was  Canova's 
beautiful  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Clement  XIII. 
Above  the  Pope  appears  praying,  at  one  side  Re- 
ligion holds  the  cross,  and  at  the  other  you  see  the 
Genius  of  Death;  while  two  bas-relief  lions,  sym- 
bolic of  the  Pontiff's  strength  of  character,  recline 
with  Charity  and  Fortitude  below.   During  vespers 
on  the  eve  of  Cor^ms  Christi,  for  half-an-hour  I 
laboured  under  the  delusion  that  one  of  these  figures 
was  alive.     To  describe  in  detail  the  architectural 
ornaments,  or  the  internal  decorations  of  the  church, 
would  be  out  of  place  in  a  work  like  the  present; 


no 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


CORPUS   DOMINI. 


Ill 


the  curious  will  find  them  minutely  examined  in 
the  books  of  abler  travellers,  whose  pens  can  do 
justice  to  their  merits. 

Let  me  invite  the  attention  of  my  readers  to  tlie 
scene  which  I  witnessed  in  the  Piazza,  and  at  the 
altar  of  St.  Peter's,  on  the  great  feast  of  Corpus 
Domini.     The  day  broke  cloudless  and  serene,  and 
the  sun  of  Italy  rose  in  all  its  splendour,  to  illumi- 
nate the  procession  of  dignitaries.     Early  in  tlie 
morning  I  joined  the  vast  crowd,  which  flowed  like 
a  resistless  river  towards  the  Vatican.     The  broad 
way  between  the  rows  of  pillars  on  the  Piazza, 
was  strewn  with  box-wood  leaves  and  fine  yellow 
sand,  and  along  this  path,  shortly  after  our  anival, 
the  ecclesiastics  began  to  march  in  order  towards 
the  cathedral.    A  very  courteous  officer  in  charge 
having  provided  us  with  front  seats  along  the  line, 
we  saw  the  spectacle  to   great  advantage.     The 
French  soldiers  had  scarcely  taken  their  positions 
to  keep  back  the  multitude,  when  the  students  for 
the  ministry  appeared,  forming   the  vanguard  of 
the  various  orders  of  monks,  whose  coarse  garments, 
rope  girdles,  and  sandals,  strikingly  contrasted  wdth 
the  rich  dresses  of  the  ladies  around  us.     Behind 


y 


\ 


them  walked  the  priests  and  singing  boys,  two 
abreast,  each  man  carrying  a  lighted  candle,  the 
wax  from  which  dropped  plentifully  on  the  sand. 
I  never  saw  in  any  country  such  an  array  of  dirty, 
vulgar,  ignorant  looking  men;  the  regulars,  especi- 
ally, had  a  most  repulsive  aspect.  At  intervals 
amongst  tlie  clergy,  porters  with  tattered  robes 
can'ied  gilt  crucifixes,  and  the  standards  of  the 
several  saints,  f»^^ lowed  by  the  bishops,  the  arch- 
bishops, and  the  bearded  patriarchs  of  the  Greek 
and  Armenian  churches  in  communion  with  Rome. 
After  them  came  the  cardinals,  headed  by  Antonelli, 
the  famous  prime-minister  of  the  Holy  See — gene- 
rally speaking,  handsome  elderly  men,  with  intel- 
lectual countenances.  They  preceded  a  sort  of 
throne,  covered  by  a  canopy,  and  borne  on  men's 
shoulders,  on  which,  his  head  and  shoulders  only 
being  visible  above  the  robes  of  state,  reclined 
Pope  Pius  IX.  He  looked  downwards,  and  as 
he  passed  very  slowly,  I  had  time  to  remark  his 
careworn  countenance,  and  the  anxious  glances 
which  he  cast  from  side  to  side,  as  if  somewhat 
suspicious  of  his  faithful  Romans.  He  has  grizzly 
hair,  an  expression  by  no  means  intellectual,  and  a 


'^ir^'fu^ievsfs^um'^-if,-^^-'!^  .vs 


112 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


LEVITY   OF   THE   FRENCH   TROOPS. 


113 


face  not  nearly  so  venerable  as  those  of  the  more 
aged  cardinals. 

Immediately  behind  Pio  Nono,  rode  General 
Gemeau  and  his  staff,  taking  precedence  of  the 
Roman  nobles,  led  by  II  Principe  Altieri,  a  body 
of  very  handsome,  elegantly  dressed  men,  who  con- 
stitute the  Pope's  guard  of  honour.  How  humili- 
ating to  them  to  see  their  place  usurped  by  Gallic 
officers,  to  whom  their  Pontiff  owes  his  restoration 
and  his  safe  residence  in  the  Eternal  City!  The 
heavy  Norman  cavalr}-  followed,  and  the  other 
horse  regiments  of  France  brought  up  the  rear  of 
the  procession.  As  soon  as  they  passed,  we  has- 
tened to  the  sacristy  door,  and  entered  St.  Peter's 
a  few  minutes  before  the  Pope  from  the  High 
Altar  gave  his  benediction  to  a  prostrate  people. 
It  was  a  solemn  moment.  The  old  man  havinsr 
descended  from  his  throne,  mounted  the  steps,  and 
turning  towards  the  assembled  thousands,  raised 
his  hands.  Immediately  the  vast  multitude  fell  on 
their  knees;  looking  over  the  forest  of  heads,  I 
could  see  no  upright  figures  but  those  of  a  few 
Inglesi  and  Amcricani,  the  nations  who  enjoy 
great  liberty  of  a  certain  kind  in  Rome. 


\*i 


I  have  been  in  churches  abroad  where  no  such 
profanation  would  be  allowed,  where  the  Protestant 
must  bow  the  knee  or  be  punished ;  but  the  attitude 
of  the  strangers  in  St.  Peter's,  even  on  that  sacred 
occasion,  seemed  to  excite  no  attention  whatever ; 
every  man  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes. 
Exemption  from  conforming  to  the  rites  of  popery 
has  been  purchased  in  the  Eternal  City  by  English 
gold.  It  is  NOT  necessary  in  Rome  to  follow  the 
customs  of  the  Romans.  The  bearing  of  the  people 
during  the  ceremony  was  respectful,  but  scarcely 
devout;  they  seemed  to  favour  the  religion,  but  to 
bear  no  good-will  towards  its  ministers.  As  for 
the  French  soldiers,  they  behaved  with  gi*eat 
levity;  when  a  particularly  fat  monk  passed,  one 
man  touched  another  with  his  musket,  and  an 
audible  titter  along  the  ranks  stopped  the  pater- 
noster of  the  unfortunate  padre,  who  gazed  mourn- 
fully on  the  scoffers. 

We  remained  for  some  time  in  the  Piazza,  when 
the  crowd  had  begun  to  disperse,  in  order  to  see 
the  equipages  of  the  cardinals,  the  heavy  coaches 
with  gilt  ornaments,  red  wheels,  and  black  horses, 
which  are  so  numerous  in  Rome.     Three  footmen 


.-,.j«^  "-"Vft'ttiiS^'' 


114 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


BASILIC  OF  ST.  JOHN. 


115 


generally  stand  behind,  while  a  stout  coachman  in 
a  gorgeous  livery  sits  on  the  hammer-cloth.  The 
splendour  of  the  vestments  worn  by  the  ecclesiastics 
did  not  come  up  to  my  expectations ;  the  standards, 
too,  bore  marks  of  age,  and  many  of  the  clergy 
seemed  sadly  to  want  soap  and  water.  It  was  a 
childish  procession,  the  offspring  of  "  Night's 
daughter.  Ignorance;"  the  vain  effort  of  minds 
darkened  by  superstition,  to  honour  that  "God  who 
is  a  Spirit,  and  must  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and 
in  truth."  If  religion  consist  in  prostrations,  hold- 
ing wax-candles,  and  what  Dr.  Chalmers  calls  "  a 
gurgle  of  syllables,"  then  Kome  is  its  capital;  if 
men  be  rational  beings,  and  their  God  accept  only 
the  offerings  of  the  heart,  then  the  mystery  of 
iniquity  works  on  the  seven  hills,  and  Home  is  the 
Babylon  of  prophecy. 

On  the  evening  of  the  following  Sunday  half 
the  people  of  the  city  flocked  to  the  Piazza  of  the 
Lateran  Church,  to  witness  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament.  The  Basilic  of  St.  John's 
stands  on  elevated  ground,  close  to  the  southern 
walls.  A  splendid  obelisk,  brought  by  Con- 
stantine  from  Thebes,  adorns  the  adjoining  square, 


I 


I 


and  near  it  is  a  small  chapel,  with  a  portico 
covering  the  staircase,  belonging  to  Pontius 
Pilate's  palace  at  Jerusalem,  up  which  Our  Saviour 
walked   to   meet   the   governor. 

All  readers  of  history  know  tlie  Scala  Santa, 
which  the  f^iithful  ascend  on  their  knees.  Whilst 
watching  the  deluded  beings  sp  engaged,  I  thought 
of  Luther's  \4sit  to  the  place,  and  the  flash  of  light 
which  there  revealed  to  him  the  mummeries  of 
Antichrist.  We  found  the  vast  open  space  in 
front  of  the  church  filled  with  citizens,  soldiers, 
and  carriages.  The  procession  left  the  Basilic  by 
a  side  door,  made  a  circuit  to  pass  through  an 
hospital,  and  entered  again  by  the  great  door 
of  the  eastern  front.  Several  hundred  priests  and 
singers,  the  various  orders  of  monks,  the  students 
of  divinity,  men  carrying  crucifixes,  flags,  and  the 
emblems  of  different  saints,  preceded  the  cardinals, 
and  behind  marched  a  company  or  two  of  French 
infantry.  There  is  something  of  a  deeply 
melancholy  character  in  this  frivolity.  No  man, 
who  has  read  his  Bible,  can  gaze  with  indifference 
upon  a  multitude  of  immortal  beings,  whose 
religion  of  bodily  exercises  pleases  the  eye,  but 


116 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE  TIBER. 


THE   rOPE  S   BEXEDICTIOX. 


117 


does  not  affect  the  lieart.  Methought  I  heard  a 
voice  from  heaven,  addressing  these  devotees  of 
crucifixes  and  gilt  images  in  the  solemn  words 
with  which  Isaiah,  at  the  bidding  of  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  warned  the  rulers  of  Sodom  and  the 
people  of  Gomorrah.* 

Two  days  after  this  we  again  mixed  with  a 
crowd  of  sightseers  in  the  Piazza  of  the  Lateran, 
to  celebrate  the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 
I  stood  for  an  hour  at  the  porch,  watching  the 
carnages  of  the  princes  and  cardinals  as  they 
drove  up  to  the  entrance  ;  and  shortly  before  the 
appointed  time  a  body  of  dragoons  at  full  gallop 
announced  the  approach  of  Pio  Nono,  who  fol- 
lowed them  in  a  carriage,  drawn  by  six  horses. 
He  sat  at  the  window,  bowing  graciously  to  the 
people,  and  looking  much  more  cheerful  than  he 
had  done  during  the  procession  of  Corpus  Domini. 
Then  entering  the  church,  being  dressed  in  black, 
I  was  admitted  within  the  space  railed  off  for  the 
higher  ecclesiastics  and  the  officers  of  the  French 
Republic.  The  fantastically  dressed  Swiss  guards 
kept  order,  while  the  Pope,  elevated  on  a  chair, 

•  Isaiah  i.  10—17. 


was  borne  on  men's  shoulders  to  his  throne. 
He  was  attired  in  his  most  gorgeous  robes,  wore 
a  tiara  glittering  with  jewels,  and  ever  and  anon 
stretched  out  his  hand  to  bless  the  kneeling 
multitude.  His  countenance  struck  me  as  that 
of  a  man  without  much  talent,  but  easy-minded 
and  benevolent,  apt  to  be  misled  by  evil  coun- 
sellors, but  naturally  disposed  to  gentleness. 
When  he  had  taken  his  place  on  the  pontifical 
throne,  the  cardinals  one  by  one  ascended  the 
steps,  bowed  to  him  and  kissed  his  hand — some 
of  them  with  great  apparent  reverence,  others  as 
if  they  were  performing  an  unpleasant  duty. 

This  ceremony  being  over,  the  Archbishop 
proceeded  to  the  altar  to  celebrate  mass ;  but  I  did 
not  remain,  being  sick  at  heart  of  such  pomp  and 
parading — in  honour  too  of  one  who  was  among 
the  lowliest  of  Christ's  followers.  How  corrupted 
and  changed  is  the  church,  how  much  has  it 
departed  from  the  example  of  Him,  whose  advent 
was  announced  by  a  voice,  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
*'  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord!" 

Within  the  Vatican  is  a  little  chapel,  well  known 
to  all  strangers,  especially  to  those  who  have  spent 


118 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBER. 


the  Christmas  holidays  in  Rome.  It  contains 
Michael  Angelo's  celebrated  fresco  of  the  Last 
Judgment,  on  which  the  great  master  worked 
for  about  eight  years.  Many  of  the  figures  in 
this  wonderful  undertaking  illustrate  most  forcibly 
the  grandness  of  outline  and  the  boldness  of 
conception,  for  which  he  was  so  famous ;  but  the 
painting  as  a  whole  is  not  a  pleasing  one;  it 
justifies,  in  my  opinion,  8alvator  Rosa's  satire, 

"  Michel  Angielo  mio,  no  parlo  in  gioco 
Questo  che  dipingete  b  un  gran  Giudizio', 
Ma,  del  giudizio  voi  n'avete  poco." 

A  man's  head,  with  ass's  ears,  in  this  fresco,  was 
meant  for  a  portrait  of  the  Pope's  master  of 
ceremonies,  who  had  ventured  to  decry  the  work 
as  unsuitable  to  the  Cistine  Chapel.  The  repre- 
sentation of  the  Deluge  on  the  roof  is  interesting, 
on  account  of  being  the  first  which  M.  Angelo 
painted  on  plaster.  In  the  other  decorations  of 
this  place  of  worship  he  only  spent  twenty  months, 
— an  incredibly  short  time  when  we  consider  the 
number  of  compositions,  chiefly  illustrative  of 
scriptural  subjects,  executed  by  his  unaided  hand. 
When  Julius  II.  wanted  him  to  ornament   them 


THE  VATICAN. 


119 


with  gold,  in  order  to  give  splendour  to  the  chapel, 
he  replied,  "  In  those  days  gold  was  not  worn, 
and  the  characters  I  have  painted  were  neither 
rich  nor  desirous  of  wealth,  but  holy  men,  with 
whom  gold  was  an  object  of  contempt."  * 

The  appearance  of  the  Vatican  itself, — that 
immense  palace  which  Guide-books  say  has 
eleven  thousand  rooms, — reminded  me  of  Rasselas* 
dwelling  in  the  Happy  Valley.  "  This  house," 
says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  which  was  so  large  as  to  be 
fully  known  to  none  but  some  ancient  officers, 
who  successively  inherited  the  secrets  of  the  place, 
was  built  as  if  Suspicion  itself  had  dictated  the 
plan."  t  It  adjoins  St.  Peter's,  and  is  connected 
with  Fort  St.  Angelo  by  a  covered  passage  above 
the  houses.  Having  been  added  to  and  altered 
to  suit  the  tastes  of  various  pontiffs,  its  architecture 
is  a  piece  of  patchwork,  which  rather  disfigures  the 
locality,  and  detracts  from  the  majestic  appearance 
of  the  neighbouring  dome. 

Every  stranger  must  visit  with  great  pleasure 
the  beautiful  galleries,  so  well  known  to  admirers 

•  Vasari's  "  Vite  dei  Pittori." 
t  Rasselas,  p.  4. 


i 


120 


THE  TAGUS  AND  TUE  TUJEH. 


of  RafFaelle's  genius.  On  the  ceiling  of  the  Loggie, 
under  Leo  X.,  he  painted  fifty-two  scenes  from 
scriptural  history,  called  on  tliat  account  his 
*'  Bible."  To  the  worthies  of  the  Old  Testament 
times,  he  in  these  inestimable  frescoes  has  given, 
to  borrow  an  expression  from  Coleridge, 

"  Such  seeming  subatance,  that  they  almost  live." 

The  picture  of  Joseph  interpreting  Pliaraoh's  dream 
would  be  sufficient  of  itself  to  exalt  EafFaelle  to  the 
first  place  among  painters ;  then  tliere  are  Moses 
saved  from  the  Nile,  the  Judgment  of  Solomon, 
the  Nativity,  the  Baptism  of  Christ,  and  the  Last 
Supper,  where  the  moment  has  been  chosen  when 
Jesus  announces  to  the  disciples  "  One  of  you  shall 
betray  me." 

I  might  fill  several  pages  in  briefly  noticing  this 
wonderful  monument  of  artistic  genius,  the  store- 
house from  which  students  have,  for  three  hundred 
years,  been  acquiring  knowdedge.  Raffaelle  de- 
scended to  the  subterranean  chambers  of  Nero's 
palace  to  study  the  remains  of  ancient  Rome  ; 
alone  he  remained,  torch  in  hand,  breathing  the 
damp   air   of  vaults   iminhabited   by   man ;    but 


WORKS   OF   ART. 


121 


there,  perchance,  the  mantle  of  inspiration  fell  on 
his  shoulders,  he  had  recovered  the  manner  of  the 
ancients,  the  tastes  which  monks  had  bui'ied  under 
the  ruins  of  learning ;  he  could  now  connect  the 
antique  with  the  natural,  the  eternal  and  the  true  ; 
and  ascending  to  open  day  he  painted  his 
Parnassus,  Apollo  on  Helicon  w^th  the  Muses, 
to  prove  tlie  resurrection  of  the  arts. 

To  describe  those  glorious  w^orks  of  art,  which 
attract  so  many  strangers  to  the  capital  of 
Christendom,  w^ould  be  a  pleasant  task,  but  one 
which  the  reader  w^ill  not  expect  of  me.  Before 
concluding  these  observations  I  wisli,  however, 
to  notice  a  verj-  few  of  those  which  cannot  be 
mentioned  without  enthusiasm.  A  brief  account 
of  the  treasures  to  be  seen  in  the  public  as  well 
as  the  numerous  private  galleries,  fills  many  pages 
in  every  Guide-book ;  we  paid  considerably  more 
than  a  hundred  visits  ourselves  in  Rome  ;  but  1 
would  not  venture  to  record  my  impressions  of  them 
here.  Let  me  confine  my  remarks  to  six  statues, 
and  the  chief  works  of  four  great  painters  hitherto 
not  mentioned  in  the  com*se  of  these  remarks. 

In    the    Spada    palace,    at    the    foot    of    the 

VOL.  II.  F 


122 


THE  TAOUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


Janiculum,  those  who,  like  myself,  place  Guercino 
in  the  first  rank  of  painters,  will  find  three  works 
by  him  which  leave  a  lasting  impression  on  the 
mind — the  Death  of  Dido,  Mary  Magdalene,  and 
David  with  Goliath's  head;  but  to  see  them  you 
must  pass  througli  an  ante-room,  in  which  stands 
that  very  statue  of  Pompey,  at  the  feet  of  which, 
fell  Caesar  pierced  with  wounds.  A  glance  at 
this  venerable  relic  answers  the  doubts  which  some 
have  expressed  regarding  its  authenticity.  That 
stem  face  bears  no  resemblance  to  the  handsome 
countenance  of  Augustus,  or  the  boyish  features 
of  Alexander  the  Great ;  it  tells  its  own  tale  to 
every  reader  of  Roman  history,  and  verifies  the 
precious  tradition.  The  presence  of  Pompey's 
majestic  form  fills  the  mind  with  sensations  not 
easy  to  describe. 

The  church  of  St.  Pietro  in  Yincoli,  so  called 
because  built  by  Eudoxia,  the  wife  of  Valentinian, 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  chains  with  which 
Herod  bound  St.  Peter,  contains  Michael  Angelo's 
celebrated  statue,  executed  to  embellish  the  tomb 
of  Pope  Julius  II.,  and  representing  Moses  with 
the  two  tables  of  the  law.     Of  all  the  works  which 


THE   CAPITOLTNE   HILL. 


123 


have  immortalized  this  great  sculptor,  this  example 
of  creative  genius  impressed  me  most  with  admira- 
tion of  his  powers.  You  have  there  in  marble  the 
history  and  character  of  the  Jewish  lawgiver ;  you 
almost  expect  to  see  him  dash  in  pieces  the  records 
written  by  Deity,  and  call  aloud  for  tlie  Levites  to 
range  themselves  under  the  banner  of  the  Lord. 

Compared  with  the   Quirinal,  the  Palatine,  or 
the  Janiculum,  the  Capitoline  Hill  is  by  no  means 
a  conspicuous  object  in  most  views  of  Rome.     On 
the   spot   formerly   occupied    by   the   Temple   ot 
Jupiter —  the   summit   of  the  rock  — stands   the 
Church  of  Santa  Maria  d'Aracoeli ;  the  equestrian 
stetue  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  found  near  the  Lateran, 
has  been  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  square,  and 
the  balustrades  of  the  stair  leading  to  the  top  of 
the  hill  are  flanked  with  the  various  buildings  of 
the  Senatorial   Palace,  designed  by  Michael  An- 
gelo,  which  contains  very  celebrated  collections  of 
pictures,   inscriptions,   busts,   and   statues.      The 
greatest  ornament  of  tlie  gallery  is  Domenichino's 
Cumaean  Sybil,  one  of  the  best  paintings  which 
that  master  has  left  as  a  legacy  to  posterity.     In 
the  halls  of  the  Conservatori  the  curious  will  find 

f2 


124 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


THE   LAOCOON. 


125 


a  representation,  in  bronze,  found  at  the  base  of 
the  Palatine,  of  the  she-wolf  which  nursed  Romulus 
and  Remus ;  the  same  described  by  Virgil  in  the 
lines — 

"  Geminos  huic  ubera  circum 
Ludere  pendentes  pueros,  et  lambere  niatrem 
Impavidos."  *  • 

But,  to  my  taste,  the  most  wonderful  work  there 
preserved  is  the  Dying  Gladiator,  a  Grecian  sculp- 
ture, which  bears  triumphant  witness  that,  in  one 
respect  at  least,  modem  must  yield  to  ancient  art. 
The  attitude  and  expression  of  that  inanimate 
marble  can  scarcely  be  imagined,  even  by  those 
who  have  studied  the  master-pieces  of  a  recent  age. 

Although  I  have  inspected  many  collections  of 
statuary  in  the  various  countries  of  Europe,  I  freely 
confess  my  ignorance  of  what  could  really  be  done 
by  the  chisel,  until  I  saw  that  splendid  range  of 
apartments,  filled  with  Grecian  sculpture,  which 
astonishes  every  visitor  to  the  Vatican. 

To  mention  by  name  the  chief  treasures  of 
these  halls  would  be  tedious.  Surely,  Mr.  Ruskin 
himself  must  allow  that  Perseus,  with  Medusa's 

*  -^Eneid,  viii.  631. 


head,  and  the  Boxers,  contained  in  the  first 
cabinet  of  the  court,  have  immortalized  the  talents 
of  Canova ;  but  let  me  not  tarry  to  admire  even 
these;  for  the  third  circular  room  demands  my 
notice — the  room  in  which  Leo  X.  placed  the 
famous  Laocoon,  discovered  in  1508  amid  the  ruins 
of  the  Baths  of  Titus,  occupying  the  position  which 
Pliny  lias  assigned  to  it,  and  described  by  the  Ve- 
netian ambassadors  in  the  time  of  Pope  Adrian 
the  Sixth,  in  the  expressive  words,  "Non  gli 
manca  che  lo  spirito," — nothing  is  wanting  to  it 
but  life.  Two  venomous  serpents  have  entwined 
themselves  around  an  old  man  and  his  two  sons, 
one  of  whom  endeavours,  with  his  little  arm,  to 
withdraw  his  leg  from  the  tormentor  ;  but,  finding 
himself  unable  to  save  the  limb,  he  turns  weeping 
towards  his  father ;  the  other  young  man  seems 
more  resigned — every  hope  of  safety  has  fled — the 
intensity  of  the  sufiering  has  paralysed  him.  The 
agony  and  despairing  resolution  blended  in  the 
parent's  face,  divert  your  attention  from  the  extra- 
ordinary muscular  exertion  displayed  by  his  limbs, 
as  he  summons  a  last  mighty  effort  to  escape  the 
fangs  of  the  reptiles.     But  all  will  be  in  vain.    As 


ii 


IW 


THE  TAGUS  AJfD  THE  TIBER. 


you  gaze  on  the  features  of  the  afflicted  men,  you 
expec:t  every  moment  to  see  their  strength  fail,  and 
their  bodies,  falling  prostrate  on  the  earth,  become 
a  prey  to  the  devourer. 

''Laocoon,'"  say5  Winckelmann,  in  his  "  History 
of  Art  among  the  iVncients,"  *'  nous  offi-e  k  spec- 
tacle de  la  nature  humaine  dans  le  plus  grand 
douleur  dont  elk  soit  susceptible,  sous  i'image 
dun  homme  qui  taehe  de  rassembler  contre  elle 
toute'la  force  de  Teflpxit.  Tandis  que  I'excbs  de 
la  souffranoe  enfle  ks  muscles,  et  tire  violemment 
les  nerfs,  le  courage  se  montre  Bur  k  front  gonfl^ ; 
la  poitrine  s*<^l^ve  avec  peine  par  k  necessity  de  la 
respiration,  qui  est  ^galement  contraint^  par  le 
silence  que  la  fc«?ee  de  rione  impose  h  la  douleur 
qu'elk  voudrait  ^touffer." 

The  same  peculiarity  has  been  remarked  by 
Alison  in  one  of  his  essays.  As  the  agonies  of 
his  body  increase,  his  mind  seems  to  rise  with  the 
occasion,  aaid  no  indication  of  defeat  passes  across 
his  unconquerable  brow.  Truly  has  Byion  illus- 
trated the  leading  characteristic  of  this  noble  work, 
when  he  speaks  of  "  Laocoon's  torture  dignifying 
l^ain."    The  spirit  triumphs  over  its  woes  ;  Nature 


GUERCINO. 


127 


fesserts,  even  in  that  horrible  hour,  the  pre- 
eminence of  man.  The  contemplation  of  this  match- 
less monument  of  Grecian  sculpture  strikes  the 
beholder  mute  with  astonishment ;  its  presence 
awes  the  frivolous,  silences  the  prattler,  and  fills 
with  unspeakable  admiration  one  who  can  justly 
appreciate  the  majesty  of  art.  No  existent  statue 
can  be  named  in  the  same  breath  with  this,  except- 
ing perhaps  that  which  the  next  chamber  contains — 
the  Apollo  Belvedere,  discovered  at  Antium,  and 
pronounced  by  some  judges  to  be  the  finest  in  the 
world.  **  The  god  of  life,  and  poesy,  and  light," 
erect,  triumphant,  and  radiant  with  joy,  stretches 
forth  his  hand,  as  it  were,  to  proclaim  his  mission, 
while  his  attitude  sets  off  the  symmetry  of  his 
form,  and  his  look  compels  the  homage  which 
mortals  owe  to  Deity — the  Deity  which,  amid  the 
groves  of  Delphi,  established  his  awfvl  oracle. 

I  have  only  mentioned  Guercino.  His  admirers 
must  visit  the  spacious  palace  of  the  Colonna 
family  to  see  his  Guardian  Angel  and  his  Moses 
with  the  Tables  of  the  Law  ;  nor  must  they  forget 
Among  the  various  attractions  of  the  Palazzo  Doria, 
to  observe  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  St.  Peter,  the  St. 


4 

I 


128 


THE  TAfiUS  AND  THE   TIBER. 


DOMENICHINO'S   "  ST.  JEROME. 


•)■> 


129 


Agnes,  the  Magdalene,  and  the  Endymion,  which 
his  genius  has  added  to  the  possessions  of  one  of 
the  noblest  Roman  families.  The  mansion  of  the 
Corsini,  at  the  foot  of  the  Janiciilum,  contains 
three  Ecce  Homos,  placed  in  juxtaposition,  that 
visitors  may  compare  their  merits.  In  Guido's, 
resignation  seems  to  predominate  over  every  other 
feeling  ;  suffering  is  written  on  Carlo  Dolci's  ;  but 
agony  of  the  intensest  kind  cries  in  that  of  Guer- 
cino,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ?  " 

In  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  dcG:li  A'ngeli, 
jonce  the  Pinacotheca  of  Diocletian's  Batlis,  now 
belonging  to  the  monks  of  St.  Bernard,  the  stranger 
will  find  Domenichino's  master])iece,  "  The  Mar- 
tyrdom of  St.  Sebastian,"  where  that  painter 
proves  himself  a  true  disciple  of  the  Caracci, 
though  greater  than  his  lord. 

All  the  world  have  heard  of  Guido's  Beatrice 
Cenci — the  saddest  of  sad  remembrances — which 
adorns  the  Barberini  Palace  on  the  Quirinal  liill ; 
but  the  lovers  of  true  colouring  w411  not  object  to 
follow  me  also  to  the  mansion  of  the  llospigliosi, 
adjoining  the  Pope's  residence  on  the  same  emi^- 


h 


nence,  where,  in  a  pavilion  of  the  garden,  they 
will  unexpectedly  find  the  finest  fresco  which  the 
world  has  ever  seen— the  celebrated  Aurora,  by 
that  great  master  of  Italian  art.  Apollo,  seated 
in  a  car,  drawn  by  four  horses  abreast,  and  sur- 
rounded by  seven  nymphs,  representing  the  houi's, 
is  starting  from  a  lofty  promontory  overlooking 
the  sea,  while  the  dawTi  of  day  illumines  the  land- 
scape, and  diffuses  over  the  waters  a  rosy  joyful 
light,  to  gladden  the  heart  of  the  mariner  dream- 
ing of  darkness  among  the  breakers. 

Let  me  conclude  this  imperfect  sketch  of  the 
Eternal  City  by  noticing  one  room  in  the  picture 
gallery  of  the  Vatican.  Entering  by  the  Loggie, 
and  a  narrow  crooked  passage,  you  arrive  at  a 
small  apartment,  which  contains  only  five  paint- 
ings, but  these  five  merit  more  than  a  casual  re- 
mark. On  the  same  wall  as  the  entrance,  hangs 
Domenichino's  St.  Jerome,  where,  carrying  out  the 
ideal  of  Agostino  Caracci,  he  has  produced  a  mas- 
tei-piece  which,  in  point  both  of  grouping  and  of 
expression,  excels  every  attempt  of  his  teacher. 
St.  Ephraim    administers   the   sacrament   to   the 

f3 


■I  ■W"-*^.. -*<*  '^ 


i 


180 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


THE  TRANSFIGURATIOK. 


131 


dying  man,  whose  ann  St.  Paolina  bathes  with 
tears ;  while  a  deacon  holds  the  chalice,  and  an 
inferior  officer  kneeling  presents  the  book. 

Next  this  picture  is  the  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin,  executed  by  Raffaelle  when  a  youth,  bearing, 
especially  in  the  countenances  of  the  figiires  repre- 
sented, the  evident  marks  of  genius,  altliough  the 
grouping  strikes  you  as  stiflf  and  hard.  Alongside 
of  it  hangs  another  on  the  same  subject  by  his 
disciples.  This  appears  so  inferior  in  the  presence 
of  works  done  by  the  master  himsehf,  that  you 
quickly  turn  away  from  it  to  admire  the  colouring  of 
the  Madonna  de  Foligno,  one  of  Raffaelle's  greatest 
artistic  triumphs.  Mary,  with  the  Holy  Infant 
in  her  arms,  sits  in  the  clouds;  on  the  ground 
beneath  her  a  cherub  holds  up  a  scroll ;  on  the 
right  stand  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Francis; 
while  on  the  left,  the  secretary  of  Julius  II., 
with  St.  Jerome's  hand  placed  on  his  head,  kneels 

in  adoration. 

Need  I  tell  the  enlightened  reader  wliat  picture 
occupies  the  fifth  and  last  place  in  this  celebrated 
apartment?      Nearly    four  hundred    years    have 


passed  away  since  the  small  town  of  Urbino  gave 
birth  to  Raffaelle ;  but  no  work  of  art  has  since 
appeared  to  challenge  comparison  with  the  Trans- 
figuration. 

The  scene  represented  does  not  exactly  tally 
with  the  scriptural  account ;  for  Christ  appears 
raised  in  the  air,  with  Moses  and  Elias  on  each  side, 
while  the  nine  disciples  at  the  foot,  not  of  a 
mountain,  but  a  mere  knoll,  listen  to  the  father 
and  sister  of  the  demoniac  boy,  who  chide  them 
for  their  inability  to  effect  a  cure.  In  the  midst 
of  this  group,  you  see  St.  Andrew  pointing  to  the 
hill  whither  the  All-powerful  Healer  has  gone,  and 
beneath  a  tree  on  the  left  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano 
de  Medici  on  their  knees  adore  the  transfigured 
Christ.  The  last  of  his  works — the  noblest  fruit 
of  that  industrious  genius  which  electrified  Italy, 
the  most  elaborate  of  those  well-studied  master- 
pieces which  impart  to  his  name  a  dignity 
unrivalled — this  magnificent  painting  displays  the 
highest  excellency  of  sketching,  of  colouring,  and 
of  conception  combined.  Rubens  would  have 
made   our  Saviour   the  sun,  from  whose   person 


,  I 


'}  I 


I  '■ 


132 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


dazzling  light  streamed  upon  the  beholders;  but 
Raffaelle  illustrates  the  brightness  of  the  glory,  not 
by  any  such  vulgar  device,  but  by  its  effects  on 
the  three  astonished  disciples  ;  one  has  cast  him- 
self    on    the    ground,    another    staggers    as    he 
endeavours  to  withdraw  his  head,  while  the  third 
covers  with  his  hands  those  eyes  which   cannot 
look  on  Deity.     The  confusion  of  the    Apostles 
when   they  find  themselves   unable  t<^    heal  the 
demoniac  child— the  endeavour  of  Andrew  to  pacify 
the  relations  by  a  reference  to  the  power  of  Jesus— 
the  father,  whose  face  displays  the  fury  of  a  man 
victimised  by  impostors— and  the  calm  heavenly  re- 
pose depicted  on  the  countenance  of  Him  who  sits  on 
the  clouds  on  the  top  of  Tabor,  fill  your  mind  with 
sensations— themselves  amply  rewarding  a  journey 
to  Rome.     Behold  the  culminating  point  of  those 
precocious  talents,  which  had  delighted  old  Pietro 
Perugino  in  his  assistant  boy  !     From  Perugia  he 
removed  to  Florence;  from   Florence  Julius   II. 
called  him  to  Rome,  and  there,  undazzled  by  the 
splendid  patronage  of  pontiffs  and  admiring  kings, 
he  pursued  a  course  of  steadfast  industry ;  cartoons. 


I 


CAMPAGNA   ROMAGKA. 


133 


drawings,  frescoes,  oil  pictures,  the  result  of  patient 
study,  astonished  the  artists  of  Europe,  and  when, 
to  crown  his  triumphant  progress,  the  Trans- 
figuration appeared,  it  seemed  as  if  the  confines 
of  perfection  had  been  reached ;  Raffaelle  gathered 
himself  to  his  fathers,  and  Rome,  says  Castiglione, 
seemed  joyful  no  more. 

What  a  change  from  the  bustling  Via  del  Corso 
to  the  stillness  of  the  Campagna  Romagna,  a  few 
paces     beyond    the    Cavalleggieri    gate !      Five 
minutes  after  leaving  the  walls,  on  our  way  to 
Civita   Vecchia,  we   had   entered    the   region   of 
desolation,  where    stacks  of   meadow   hay  atone 
for  the  absence  of  houses,   and   troops  of  young 
horses  trample  on  the  graves  of  the  dead.     I  had 
never  spent  a  happier  time  than  the  days  devoted 
to  visiting  the  antiquities,  the  galleries,  and  the 
shrines  of  Rome.    St.  Peter's  seemed  grander  each 
time  I  beheld  it,  and  new  beauties  became  visible 
in    the  works  of  Guido   and   Raffaelle  on  every 
successive  visit ;  but  the  monuments  of  ancient 
splendour  gave  me  the  greatest  pleasure ;  and  many 
a  time  I  resolved,  should  health  and   leisure  be 


134 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


granted  me,  to  bend  mj  steps  once  more  towards 
these  glorious  ruins,  to  wander  amidst  the  fallen 
fragments  of  Caracalla's  baths,  to  sit  musing  on 
the  benches  of  the  Colosseum,  and  to  trace  the 
windings  of  the  Tiber  from  tlie  moss-covered 
battlements  on  the  Palatine. 


/;'    % 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PAPAL  TERRITORIES — MISERABLE  STATE  OF 
THE  COUNTRY — ITS  PROBABLE  FATE — TWO  THEORIES  ON  THIS 
SUBJECT — CIVITA  VECCHIA — TRAVELLERS  AND  THEIR  COURIERS 
— ARRIVAL  AT  LEGHORN — PROCESSION  OF  THE  HOLY  SACRAMENT 

— RAILROAD  TO  PISA  AND   LUCCA — AN  AMERICAN   LOCOMOTIVE 

THE  SARDINL/iN  MALLEPOSTE — PICTURESQUE  SITUATION  OP  MASSA 

THE    MARBLE   QUARRIES  AT   CARRARA — EXCELLENCE    OF   THE 

AGRICULTURE,  AND  GARDEN-LIKE  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  PROVINCE 
— GULP  OF  8PEZZIA — INDUSTRY  OF  THE  PEOPLE — ARRIVAL  AT 
GENOA — BEAUTIFUL  SCENERY  ON  THE  COAST — SAVONA — ST.  REMO 
— TERRIBLE  PRECIPICES — GRANDEUR  OF  THE  CLIFFS  ABOVE 
MONACA  —  VIEW  OF  NICE  —  MARSEILLES — PLEASURES  OF  TRA- 
VELLING  IN   SOUTHERN   EUROPE. 

That  unhappy  portion  of  Italy,  which  yields 
temporal  obedience  to  the  Roman  See,  remains 
very  much  in  the  same  state  as  that  to  which 
corrupt  rulers  reduced  it  during  what  Isaac 
Taylor  calls  "the  dog-days  of  spiritual  despotism."* 
The  gift  which  Pepin  granted  for  the  remission 
of  his  sins,  and  Constantine  declared  a  perpetual 

•  Spiritual  DeBpotiam,  p.  191. 


(« 


136 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE  TIBER. 


STATE   OF   THE   COUNTRY. 


137 


sovereignty — whose  possession  Arnold  of  Brescia 
denounced  as  incompatible  with  the  character  of 
Christian  ministers,  even  before  superstition 
had  settled  into  the  thickest  gloom,  has  been 
shamefully  abused  by  the  successors  of  St.  Peter. 
"  The  maxims  and  effects  of  their  temporal 
goveniment,"  says  Gibbon,  "  may  be  collected  from 
the  positive  and  comparative  view  of  the  arts  and 
philosophy,  the  agriculture  and  trade,  the  wealth 
and  population  of  the  ecclesiastical  state."  * 
What  measure  of  general  benefit  did  the  Popes 
ever  confer  on  their  subjects  ?  Expensive  churches, 
ostentatious  buildings,  they  now  and  then  erected, 
when  their  coffers  were  full,  or  money  could  be 
raised  by  the  sale  of  pardons  ;  but  few  even  of 
enlightened  Catholics  will  now  deny  that  their 
states  are  worse  governed  than  any  part  of  Europe, 
Sometimes  a  pontiff,  more  benevolent  and  Avell- 
meaning  than  his  predecessors,  by  a  rare  chance 
was  elevated  to  the  throne ;  but  corruption  had 
so  eaten  into  the  vitals  of  official  morality  that  he 
seldom  could  effect  any  reform ;  he  found  the 
ecclesiastics    thoroughly    vicious,    and,     therefore, 

*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  vol.  viii.  p.  436. 


abandoned  every  hope  of  staying  the  progress 
of  that  disease,  which  has  increased  in  virulence 
until  the  present  time. 

At  about  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  Venetians  sent  an  envoy  extraordinary  to  the 
Holy  See,  and  he  sums  up  his  account  of  the 
province  in  these  emphatic  words — "  Desolated 
of  her  children,  ruined  in  her  agriculture,  over- 
whelmed by  extortions,  and  destitute  of  industry." 
In  a  similar  strain  writes  a  visitor  some  thirty 
years  before  :  he  laments  the  burdens  with  which 
the  proprietors  are  borne  down  and  driven  from 
the  country,  the  miserable  condition  of  the 
peasantry,  the  absence  of  manufactm'cs,  and  the 
illegal  exactions  of  priestly  harpies. 

It  is  both  curious  and  profitable  to  study  the 
records  of  these  ages,  and  read  the  pathetic 
lamentations  over  the  state  of  the  Papal  dominions, 
which  the  language  of  Italy  renders  so  tenderly 
expressive.  "  Oppressions,  most  holy  father," 
exclaimed  Cardinal  Sacchetti  to  Alexander  VII., 
"exceeding  those  inflicted  on  the  Israelites  in 
Egypt !  People,  not  conquered  by  the  sword, 
but  subjected  to  the  Holy  See,  either  by  their  free 


138 


THE  TAOUS  AND  THE   TIBER. 


accord  or  the  donations  of  princes,  are  more 
inhumanly  treated  than  the  slaves  in  Syria  and 
Africa."*  To  produce  this  lamentable  result, 
ignorance  had  joined  rapacity.  Gregory  XIII., 
desirous  of  growing  more  com,  cut  down  the 
forests,  near  Ostia,  which  preserved  the  salubrity 
of  the  air,  and  raised  the  port-dues  of  Ancona, 
in  the  vain  hope  of  making  the  foreigner  contribute 
more  largely  to  his  revenue,  while  in  reality  he 
drove  him  to  other  better  governed  lands.  When 
first  Urbino  and  then  Ferrara  were  added  to  the 
territories  of  the  church,  Europe  expected  that 
prosperity  might  revisit  its  shores,  and  the  popes 
recover  from  their  financial  difficulties  ;  but  these 
newly-acquired  provinces  only  shared  in  the 
general  adversity  of  the  unfortunate  lands,  over 
which  Innocent  III.,  by  fraud  and  robbery,  first 
established  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  See. 

It  would  be  needless  to  multiply  testimonies 
regarding  the  deplorable  condition,  physical,  moral, 
and  religious,  of  those  people,  who  have  so  long 

•  Dante  Bays  of  the  Popes  in  the  19th  canto  of  the  Inferno — 
"  I'  userei  parole  ancor  pih  gravi ; 
Chk  la  vostra  avarizia  il  mondo  attrista, 
Calcando  i  buoni  e  sollevando  i  pravi." 


STATE   or  THE   COUNTRY. 


139 


been  misgoverned  by  ignorant  and  rapacious  eccles- 
iastical dignitaries.*  Every  educated  English- 
man knows  it ;  every  traveller  in  Italy  mourns  the 
spectacle  of  wretchedness,  which  spoils  his  enjoy- 
ment of  scenery  and  sky ;  all  acknowledge  the 
misery,  although  some  may  dispute  its  cause. 
But  must  this  desolation  always  be  ?  ''  Time  was, 
wh^n  to  be  a  simple  Eoman  was  to  be  nobler  than 
a  northern  king."  Can  the  spell  not  then  be 
broken  ?  caji  the  land  where  valour  dwelt  with 
wisdom  not  be  disenchanted  once  more  ? 

Two  theories  on  this  solemn  subject  occur  to  the 
mind.  The  Ege  of  ignorance  has  gone  by, — 
feudalism  no  longer  cramps  tlie  energies  of  nations, 
— intercourse,  the  press,  and  national  commotions 
have  quickened  the  activity  of  the  mental  powers 
even  in  countries  oppressed  by  ecclesiastical  and 
political  despotism.  Knowledge  is  fast  dissemi- 
nating itself  throughout  Italy,  and,  if  it  be  true 
that  endurance  has  a  limit,  that  armies  can  never 
effectually  triumph  over  exasperated  men,  and  that 

•  "  niustrissimi  et  Reverendissimi  Cardinali,"  exclaimed 
Bishop  Bartholomew,  the  primate  of  Hungary,  before  the 
Council  of  Trent,  "  indigent  illustrissima  et  reverendissima 
reformatione." 


140 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


alliance  with  foreigners  has  shaken  the  confidence 
of  many  in  the  inftillibility  of  the  Pope,  then  will 
tlie  Romans  rise,  and  rise  in  arms,  with  irresistible 
united  strength,  not  to  fall  amid  the  ruins  of  the 
Forum,  but  to  destroy  for  ever  the  temporal  power 
of  the  Papacy. 

Such  is  the  hope  of  Italian  patriotism.  It  lies 
nearest  to  the  hearts  of  thousands  now  quiescent, 
but  biding  their  time  ;  men  who  fondly  cherish  the 
belief,  that  a  senate  will  yet  make  laws  in  the 
Capitol:  but  a  vague,  indeterminate,  yet  fixed 
sentiment  of  a  far  different  kind  seems  to  fill  the 
minds  of  a  less  numerous  class,  visitors  to  rather 
than  natives  of  the  peninsula.  They  dream  not  of 
revolutions  or  republican  triumphs,  but  of  earth- 
quakes, blasting,  and  mildew;  wandering  along 
the  Campagna  they  hear  subterranean  wailings, 
low  murmuring  sounds,  symptoms  of  volcanic 
agency,  the  foretaste,  as  they  think,  of  those 
terrible  convulsions  of  the  gi-ound  which,  as 
Vesuvius  indicates,  and  the  fate  of  Melfi  proclaims, 
will  overthrow  the  works  of  ages,  and  announce 
that  the  time  has  arrived  when  Rome,  like  Baby- 
lon, ''  swept  by  the  besom  of  destruction/'  must 


CIVITA   VECCHIA. 


141 


become  "  a  possession  for  the  bittern,  and  pools  of 


water. 


n 


Perhaps  there  does  not  exist  in  the  wide  world  a 
more  disagreeable  place  than  Civita  Vecchia ;  the 
country  around  reminds  one  of  Arabia  rather  than 
of  Italy,  and  its  narrow,  dirty  lanes  emit  a  stream 
of  odours  altogether  indescribable.  I  had  spent  a 
wearisome  day  there  formerly,  on  my  way  from 
Naples,*  just  before  the  French  bombardment  of 
Rome,  and  now  again  necessity  compelled  me  to 
remain  for  a  few  hours,  waiting  the  departure  of 
the  Sardinian  steamer  bound  for  Leghorn. 

Having  endured  a  night  of  jolting  on  the 
execrable  road  between  the  Eternal  City  and  its 
principal  port,  and  assisted  to  extricate  our  dili- 
gence from  deep  sand,  in  which  the  wheels  had 
become  so  firmly  imbedded,  that  no  efforts  of  the 
horses  could  move  it,  I  was  glad,  on  our  arrival  at 
Orlandi's  ill-managed  hotel,  to  enjoy  a  morning's 
rest.  The  forenoon  proved  insupportably  hot, 
but  towards  afternoon  a  thunder-cloud  from  the 


•  For  an  account  of  Naples,  see  "  Impressions  of  Central  and 
Southern  Europe."     London  :  Longman  &  Co.  1850. 


142 


THE   TAGUS  AlH)  THE   TIBER. 


Mediterranean  broke  in  torrents  of  rain  over  the 
landing-place. 

One  meets  every  now  and  then,  when  travelling 
on  the  continent,  parties  who  think  themselves 
fortunate  in  the  possession  of  a  carriage  and  a 
courier.  "  They  are  so  convenient,"  say  their 
owners ;  "we  never  have  to  complain  of  dirty 
diligences,  or  to  take  any  trouble  about  passports, 
money,  hotels,  or  modes  of  conveyance ;  wherever 
we  go,  post-horses  can  be  procured,  and  Fran<joi9 
does  everything  for  us." 

An  American  merchant,  whom  we  found  on  the 
deck  of  the  packet  at  Civita  Vecchia,  described  to 
me  in  words  like  these  his  comfortable  manner  of 
seeing  Europe.  "  But,"  said  I,  '*  may  I  ask  how 
much  it  costs  you?"  Withi  all  the  naivetS  of  an 
inexperienced  traveller,  he  frankly  named  a  sum 
for  each  of  his  party  per  diem  exactly  three  times 
more  than  I  was  paying.  We  had  lived  at  the 
same  hotels,  visited  the  same  places,  and  enjoyed 
the  same  luxuries ;  but  he  had  scarcely  come  into 
contact  with  a  single  native,  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  political  state  of  the  country,  and  Joseph,  his 


TRAVELLERS   AND  THEIR  COURIERS. 


143 


"  faithful "  keeper,  besides  pilfering  to  an  extent 
almost  incredible,  intjisted  upon  his  charge  following 
the  routes  which  he  thought  preferable. 

Having  myself  crossed  the  Alps  seven  times  by 
as  many  different  passes,  I  gave  this  gentleman 
some  hints  regarding  the  best  course  to  take  on 
leaving  Italy;  *'0h  yes,  I  see  you  are  quite 
right,"  he  replied;  "that  scheme  has  many  ad- 
vantages over  the  one  adopted  by  my  courier,  but 
then  he  must  have  his  own  way ;  there  is  no  good 
thwarting  him."  Certainly  tastes  differ  ;  for  what 
my  friend  considered  travelling  on  pleasure,  and  a 
legitimate  outlay  of  money,  I  should  consider 
downright  slavery  and  wasteful  extravagance. 

The  case  of  this  American  must  not  be  consi- 
dered a  solitary  one ;  every  summer  many  English- 
men thus  commit  themselves  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  couriers,  who  rob  them  without  scruple,  and 
carry  them  just  where  they  please.  I  once  met 
abroad  a  person  who  engaged  at  Ostend  or 
Antwerp  an  interpreter  and  servant,  to  assist  him 
in  making  his  way  as  far  as  Basle,  along  a  route 
where  every  waiter,  conductor,  and  steward  speaks- 
the  language  of  our  countrymen ! 


a 


» 


144 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


If  a  man  does  not  take  charge  of  his  own  affairs, 
he  loses  half  the  delight  of  travelling;  in  the 
public  conveyances  you  meet  people  of  all  nations, 
whose  conversation  instructs  and  amuses ;  and 
while  arranging  the  matters  incidental  to  your 
progress,  you  get  information  beyond  the  reach  of 
those  who  recline  in  Long  Acre  carriages,  and 
trust  to  the  management  of  couriers.  Some  of 
these  men  do  act  honourably ;  but  tlie  great 
majority  are  quite  unworthy  of  confidence, — in 
league  with  second-class  hotel-keepers,  pledged 
to  bring  custom  to  friends,  always  on  the  alert  to 
find  excuses  for  an  unnecessary  outhay,  and  sure 
to  make  tourists  feel  as  did  Sir  John  Falstaff  when 
he  indignantly  exclaimed, 

"  Shall  I  not  take  mine  ease  in  mine  inn  ?" 

Freedom  of  commerce  has  rendered  Leghorn  the 
first  port  in  the  Mediterranean ;  mercantile  men  and 
captains  of  ships  crowd  its  street-;,  and  the  canals 
which  intersect  it  are  filled  with  barges  conveying 
goods  to  and  fro  between  the  vessels  and  the 
warehouses. 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  day  which  we 


I 

I 


PROCESSION   OF   THE   SACRAMENT.  145 

spent  there  on  this  occasion,  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament  took  place  in  the  gi-eat  square 
adjoining   the    Cathedral.      Just   before    the    ap- 
pointed  hour  arrived  the  multitude  sliowed  symp- 
toms of  excitement:  some  rushed  to  the  churcli, 
and  witliout  any  ostensible  cause  considerable  con- 
fusion occurred ;    but  in  a  few  minutes  a  troop  of 
Croatian  cavalry  galloped  into   the    Piazza  with 
drawn  sabres,  and  in  no  very  ceremonious  manner 
drove    the   people    back   on   every   hand.      Then 
commenced   the    march   of    singers,    priests,    and 
military,  holding  candles,  and  repeating  prayers ; 
the  Austrian   band  occupied  the  post  of  honour, 
immediately  behind  the  aged  bishop  who  carried 
the  host ;  the  German  flag,  too,  floated  from  the  go- 
vernor's house,  that  black  and  yellow  banner  which 
every  Italian  abhors,  and  which  one  day  his  nation 
will  trample  in  the  dust.     Leghorn  remains  in  a 
state  of  siege !     And  periiaps  no  city  south  of  the 
Alps  more  heartily  execrates  the  Austrian  name. 
By  quartering  so  many  Croats  there,  the  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  some  of  the  merchants  assured  me,  has 
for  ever  lost  the  respect  of  the  inhabitants. 

VOL.  II.  Q 


i1 


146 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBEK. 


I  have  previously  recorded  my  impressions  "both 
of  this  place  and  Pisa,  distant  by  railroad  about 
three  quarters  of  an  hour.  Having  spent  some  time 
in  the  beautiful  Campo  Santo  of  that  city,  ad- 
miring the  Gothic  arches,  sarcophagi,  and  ancient 
frescoes  which  it  contains,  we  drove  out  of  the 
walls  to  a  small  wooden  shed,  purporting  to  be  the 
station  of  the  Strada  Ferrata  to  Lucca.  Much 
consultation  took  place  among  the  clerks  in  regard 
to  half  a  napoleon  which  I  tendered  as  payment  of 
our  tickets ;  gold  seemed  to  be  quite  a  rarity  to 

them. 

Taking  our  seats  in  a  long  car  with  one  fellow- 
passenger,  who  was  reading  an  Italian  translation 
of  Quentin  Durward,  we  were  whirled  along  a 
plain  well  cultivated,  densely  peopled,  and  of  great 
natural  beauty.  What  a  contrast  to  tlie  Cam- 
pagna  of  Rome  !  *  Rows  of  willow-trees,  on  which 
the  vines  hung  in  graceful  festoons,  separated  from 


*  Some  of  my  readers  may  recollect  with  what  pleasure 
Addison,  during  his  Italian  tour,  observed  the  prosperous  con- 
dition of  the  people  in  the  small  republic  of  San  Marino;  while 
the  rich  plain  around  Rome,  the  capital  of  civil  and  spiritual 
despotism,  was  desolate  as  newly-discovered  wilds. 


LUCCA. 


147 


each  other  the  fields  of  maize,  beans,  hemp,  barley, 
and  rye.  The  peasants  were  busy  in  some  farms 
cutting  down  the  barley  in  a  peculiar  manner, 
chopping  off  the  ears  separately,  and  afterwards 
removing  the  straw.  In  other  fields  the  ripe  and 
reaped  corn  was  piled  up  under  the  trees,  whilst 
oxen  were  preparing  the  ground  for  a  second  crop. 
The  walled  town  of  Lucca  stands  in  the  centre 
of  a  pretty  valley,  suiTOunded  by  an  amphitheatre 
of  hills.  Over  the  gate  by  which  we  sauntered 
into  the  streets,  as  if  to  mock  a  suffering  country, 
appeared  the  word  "  Libertas,"  Austrian  drummers 
meanwhile  practising  on  the  ramparts  above! 
When  passing  along  an  unfrequented  lane,  I  ob- 
served a  picture  placed  on  the  walls,  with  three  or 
four  lamps  before  it,  and  a  small  altai  with 
the  following  inscription,  illustrative  of  that  suj)er- 
stition  which  degrades  the  southern  mind, — "  In- 
dulgenza  di  40  giomi  a  clie  recitera  3  Ave 
Marias,  by  order  of  Monsignor  Scab,  Bishop  of 
the  diocese,  and  Legate  of  the  Holy  See."  Such 
miserable  chicanery  scarcely  requires  remark  ;  no 
wonder  that  licence  prevails  in  Italy.  The 
view  from  the  ramparts  and  public  drive  of  Lucca 

g2 


us 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


reminded  me  of  that  from  the  willows  which  weep 
over  the  ruins  of  Pompeii. 

The  locomotive  which  drew  us  back  to  Pisa, 
had  on  it  a  brass  plate,  inscribed,  "  W.  Moms  & 
Co,  Philadelphia,  U.8.''     What  a  commentary  on 
the  changes  which  a  fewyears  have  brought  about  in 
the  circumstances  of  nations!  Time  was  when  Chris- 
topher Colon  wandered  along  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Genoa,  an  energetic  lad,  full  of  the  idea 
that   a   new   world   existed   beyond   the   western 
waters,  and  that  Providence  had  selected  him  to 
carry  thither  the  civilizing  arts ;  now  Italy  groans 
under  two  kinds  of  despotism,  her  manufactures 
have  declined,  her  people  have  scarcely  a  place 
among   the   European   powers;    while   a   mighty 
republic  from  the  banks  of  the  Susquehanna  and 
the  Delaware  sends  works  of  industry  to  astonish 
her   degenerate   sons.      Predominant   among    the 
flags   in   the   harbour   of   Livomo,   the    stranger 
always  finds  the  star-spangled  banner :  generally 
speaking,  a  large  proportion    of  those  who  buy 
.  pictures  and  live  in  the  best  hotels  hail  from  the 
'   Atlantic  slope  of  America;  and  the  eagles  of  Rome 
have  deserted  the  Capitol  on  the  Tiber,  to  inspire 


MASSA. 


149 


the  Capitol  on  the  Potomac  with  an  energy  whicli 
promises  great  things  for  the  civilization  of  the 

world. 

At   the  untimely  hour  of  one   o'clock   in  the 
morning   we   left  Pisa  by  diligence  to  meet  tlie 
Sardinian    courier,  —  or    malleposte,  —  at    Pietra 
Santa,  the  frontier  town  of  Tuscany.     An  avenue 
of  chestnut-trees  conducted  us  from  this  place  to 
the  douane  station  of   the  duchy  of  Massa  and 
Carrara,  a  dependency  belonging  to  Modena.     A 
paul  administered  timeously  to  the  officers  of  tlie 
"  white   eagle,"    saved   us   from    a   custom-house 
visitation   here,  as  it    had   formerly  done  in   the 
Eternal  City.     When  on  our  arrival  in  Rome  I 
opened  my  portmanteau  to  a  handsomely  dressed 
gentleman,  whose  fingers  sparkled  with  jewels,  he 
squeezed  my  arm  significantly,  and  at  the  same 
time  showed  me  clandestinely  an  open  palm.    The 
liint  could  not  be  misunderstood ;  I  dropt  a  small 
silver  coin  into  his  hand,   and  my  baggage  was 
immediately    declared    exempt    from    the    usnal 
examination. 

Under  steep  wooded  hills,  and  commanding  a 
fine  view  of  the  Mediterranean,  stands  the  town  of 


150 


THE   TAGUS  AND  THE   TIBER. 


Massa,  whose  eight  thousand  inhabitants  are  sup- 
ported by  the  exportation  of  marble  from  the 
neighbouring  quan'ies.  The  castle,  a  most  pic- 
turesque object,  occupies  the  top  of  a  lofty  rock, 
clothed  with  olive-trees ;  and  when  we  passed  the 
ducal  palace  in  the  chief  square,  the  people  were 
preparing  to  receive  the  ex-empress  of  Austria. 
Crossing  a  romantic  dell  by  a  bridge  of  white 
marble,  we  ascended  the  hills  which  separate  the 
plains  around  the  embouchure  of  the  Amo  from 
the  valley  of  chestnut-trees,  descending  to  which 
by  a  succession  of  zigzags,  you  reach  the  town  of 
Carrara.  Behind  it  rise  three  or  four  lofty  moun- 
tains, picturesquely-shaped,  but  quite  destitute 
of  w^ood.  They  consist  entirely  of  marble,  the 
(|uarries  of  which  may  be  seen  a  long  way  off. 
More  than  twelve  hundred  men  work  constantly  in 
them,  and  the  supply  seems  inexhaustible,  for  from 
these  mountains  they  have  never  ceased  to  export 
marble  since  Romans  there  collected  the  materials 
to  build  the  Pantheon. 

The  beauty  of  the  iields  all  the  way  from  Pietra 
Santa  to  Spezzia  must  delight  every  traveller ; 
they  are   carefully  tilled,  irrigated   on    the   most 


SARZANA. 


151 


scientific  principles,  and  yield  rich  crops  of  maize, 
wheat,  barley,  rye,  hemp,  and  beans,  which  the 
foliage  of  orange,  lemon,  fig,  walnut,  chestnut,  and 
mulberry-trees,  protect  from  the  excessive  heat  of 
the  sim.  From  stem  to  stem  hang  the  festooned 
vines,  their  clusters  almost  meeting  the  heads  of  the 
Indian  corn.  As  we  passed  they  were  busy  cutting 
down  the  yellow  grain,  and  ploughing  the  soil  in 
preparation  for  the  succeeding  crop  of  vegetables. 

In  no  part  of  Europe  have  1  seen  a  district 
which  had  the  appearance  of  more  fertility,  indus- 
try, plenty,  and  comfort,  or  which  could  with  such 
propriety  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of  the  loveli- 
ness of  that  garden  where  our  first  parents  dwelt 
before  the  fall.  The  smooth  excellent  road  w^inds 
under  the  shade  of  trees  forming  arches  overhead ; 
you  hear  only  the  loud  chirping  of  grasshoppers, 
and  the  ploughman's  voice  encouraging  his  team 
of  oxen ;  agreeable  odours  rise  from  eveiy  field, 
and  squalid  poverty  seems  scarcely  known. 

Passing  out  of  the  little  duchy  into  the  territory 
of  Sardinia,  we  stopped  to  lunch  at  Sarzana,  an 
old  city,  which  the  Duke  of  Tuscany  ceded  to  the 
Genoese  in  exchange  for  the    then   insignificant 


152 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBEK. 


Livomo.  The  road,  on  leaving  it,  crosses  the  Magra 
river,  which  after  floods  devastates  the  entire  plain. 
We  forded  the  first  branch,  and  were  transported 
on  a  raft  across  the  deeper  channel ;  then  we  drove 
for  several  miles  up  its  right  bank,  and  turning  to 
the  left  crossed  a  rising  ground,  from  the  top  of 
which  we  beheld  the  bright  blue  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Spezzia,  a  calm  lagoon  among  the  hills, 
overlooked  by  the  houses  of  a  pretty  town.     Tlie 
white  lateen  sails  of  the  small  craft  lying  in  this, 
the  best  roadstead  on  the  Italian  coast,  liad  a  beau- 
tiful effect,  when  seen  peeping  through  the  foliage 
of  the  fig  and  the  mulbeny  on  the  slopes  of  the 
mountains. 

A  very  steep  ascent,  presenting  extensive  views 
of  tlie  picturesque  coast,  occurs  immediately  on 
leaving  this  place ;  the  road  afterwards  traces  for 
many  miles  the  course  of  the  river  Vara,  until  at 
Borghetto  it  turns  sharply  to  tlie  south,  and  crosses 
two  spurs  of  the  Apennines — the  first  covered  witli 
chestnuts,  among  which  a  few  pretty  villages  are 
embowered — the  second  becoming  near  its  summit 
rocky  and  bare,  like  the  mountains  between  ^Malaga 
and  Granada  in  Spain.     The    people   here  seem 


ROAD  TO  GENOA. 


153 


remarkably  industrious;  wherever  soil  can  be 
found  they  cultivate  it  carefully,  so  that  you  see 
barley,  rye,  vines,  and  even  wheat  growing  in 
spots  which  a  Spaniard  would  have  abandoned  to 
red-legged  partridges  and  stones. 

We  reached  the  top  of  the  pass,  and  looked 
down  from  a  giddy  height  on  the  sea,  just  as 
darkness  began  to  brood  over  nature ;  and  as  we 
descended  to  Bracco, 

"  The  fire-flies,  swarming  in  the  woodland  shade, 
Sprung  up  like  sparks,  and  twinkled  round  their  way."  * 

When  I  roused  myself  next  morning  we  had 
passed  Cape  Porto  Fino,  and  were  within  a  few 
miles  of  "  Genova  la  Superba,"  and  my  former 
quarters  at  the  Hotel  des  Quatre  Nations.  W^hile 
referring  to  the  political  state  of  Sardinia,  I  may 
have  occasion  to  mention  the  remarkable  change 
which  even  two  years  of  good  government  and 
active  commerce  have  produced  in  the  appearance 
of  this  city ;  meantime,  let  me  pass  on  to  notice 
the  country  between  it  and  Nice. 

Again  seated  in  the  coiqji  of  the  mallepostf,  we 

•  Southey's  "  Roderick,  Last  of  the  Goths." 

g3 


154 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


traversed  the  long  suburbs  as  far  as  the  lighthouse, 
passing  an  incredible  number  of  carts  and  wagons. 
For  several  miles  beyond  the  rocky  promontory, 
shutting  out  the  view  of  the  city  on  the  west, 
indeed  as  far  as  tlie  town  of  Sestri  di  Ponente,  the 
road  passes  between  a  succession  of  villas,  inns, 
shops,  and  rows  of  houses,  forming,  in  fact,  a 
faubourg  to  Genoa.  Let  not  the  stranger  forget, 
when  passing  along  the  excessively  narrow  street 
of  Cogoleto,  that  there  Christopher  Columbus  first 
saw  the  light. 

No  description  can  convey  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  beauties  of  this  road  to  the  mind  of 
one  who  has  never  seen  the  cloudless  sky, 
the  luxuriant  foliage,  and  the  blue  seas  of  Italy. 
Sometimes  the  way  lies  between  gardens  of  figs 
and  oranges,  surrounding  the  villas,  whose  brightly 
painted  walls  peer  out  amid  the  foliage  ;  sometimes 
you  ascend  a  hill  covered  with  chestnut-trees,  wild 
myrtles,  and  olives,  gaining  from  the  top  a  noble 
view  of  the  city  of  palaces,  and  the  cliffs  of  Cape 
Porto  Fino  beyond ;  while  below  you  the  fishermen 
on  the  Mediterranean  mend  their  nets,  or  impel 
their  skiffs  over  the  sapphire  waves ;  at  others  you 


SAVONA — ST.  REMO. 


155 


enter  a  large  village  surrounded  with  fertile  fields, 
and  supporting  in  comfort  a  thriving  population. 

A  narrow  cutting  between  rocks  brought  us  to 
the  picturesque  town  of  Savona,  where  no  fewer 
than  three  Roman  Pontiffs  were  born.  As  dark- 
ness came  on,  the  scenery  was  shrouded  from  our 
view ;  but  myriads  of  fire-flies  glistened  around  us, 
and  ever  and  anon  the  revolving  Pharos  of  Genoa 
poured  a  stream  of  brilliant  light  far  over  the 
Mediterranean.  St.  Remo,  where  we  breakfasted 
on  ripe  figs,  is  one  of  the  prettiest  places  on  this 
romantic  coast.  It  contains  ten  thousand  inhabit- 
ants, who  dwell  in  houses  of  great  height,  and,  like 
the  towns  in  the  Grecian  archipelago,  has  been 
built  up  the  hill-side,  instead  of  along  the  beach. 
The  perfume  of  its  orange  groves  is  delicious ;  and 
even  palms  flourish  in  the  neighbouring  gardens. 

Between  Ventimiglia  and  Mentone,  the  road 
passes  along  the  brink  of  frightful  precipices, 
several  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  To  these 
succeeds  another  garden  of  oranges,  and  then  a 
long  ascent  up  a  mountain,  the  summit  of  which 
presents  a  bold  front  of  rock,  while  trees  and  vine- 
yards clothe  its  slopes.      Just  under  the  naked 


156 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


TRAVEL   IN   SOUTHERN   EUROPE. 


157 


rocks,  elevated  some  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thou- 
sand feet  from  the  waters,  and  destitute  of  any 
parapet,  winds  the  road,  and  from  it,  so  perpen- 
dicular is  the  declivity,  you  fancy  you  could  leap 
in  one  bound  upon  the  deck  of  the  steamer  below. 
I  am  not  easily  frightened,  especially  by  the  dan- 
gers of  travelling,  but  stronger  nerves  than  mine 
would  be  required  without  a  shudder  to  look  over 
that  terrible  precipice,  as  the  heavy  lumbering 
diligence  swings  round  the  shar|i  turns  of  the  road. 
There  are  no  descents  on  any  of  the  Alpine  passes, 
not  even  on  the  Splugen,  the  Simplon,  or  the  St. 
Gothard,  so  difficult  steadily  and  without  tremor 
to  behold,  as  that  above  the  little  town  of  ^lonaca, 
on  this  remarkable  road. 

One  of  the  finest  prospects  in  P^urope  bursts 
upon  the  traveller  on  tiirning  the  shoukler  of  the 
hill  overlooking  the  ravine  of  the  Paglion.  At  his 
feet  lies  Nice,  with  its  lofty  houses,  castle,  and 
shipping,  backed  by  a  plain  where  mansions  pec]) 
out  from  an  ocean  of  foliage  ;  beyond,  the  promon- 
tory of  Antibes  stretches  far  into  the  Mediterranean, 
and  to  the  right  rise,  one  above  another,  the  frown- 
ing mountains  of  Provence. 


\ 


I  shall  not  weary  my  readers  with  an  account 
of  this  miniature  Hastings — of  the  English  villas 
near  Cannes,  or  of  that  dirty  seaport  yclept 
Marseilles,  which,  although  a  Parisian  assured 
me  it  required  four  days  to  see,  we  were  glad  to 
escape  from  in  twenty-four  hours.  A  large  fleet, 
both  of  sailing  vessels  and  steamers,  fills  its  present 
harbour,  which  government  has  long  ago  found 
of  too  contracted  dimensions  for  the  wants  of  the 
shipping.  A  new  port  on  the  shore  towards  the 
west  has  been  in  process  of  construction  for  fifteen 
years ;  but  fifteen  years  more  at  least  will  be 
required  to  finish  it. 

Actt  lahores  sunt  jucundi  is  a  somewhat  trite 
saying  ;  but  it  applies  with  great  aptness  to  the 
pleasures  of  travelling.  To  a  mind  well-stored 
with  information  and  acquainted  with  the  various 
incidents  of  European  history,  nothing  can  be 
more  interesting  than  to  visit  the  monuments 
of  the  Forum  and  the  "  blood-red  fields  of  Spain  ;" 
among  the  Alps,  the  Apennines  and  the  Pyrenees, 
the  lover  of  scenery  will  find  Nature  in  all  her 
grandeur  arrayed ;  and  those  who  know  how 
delicious  is  the  climate  of  the  south  will  not  wonder 


I 


158 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


that  Orientals  imagine  our  countrymen  under  some 
potent  spell,  whicli,  in  the  words  of  *' Eothen," 
"  drives  them  from  their  home  like  victims  of  the 
old  Grecian  furies,  and  forces  them  to  travel  over 
countries  far  and  strange."  But  the  delights  of 
reminiscence  must  not  be  forgotten  ;  memory  im- 
parts even  to  the  fairest  landscape  lovelier  hues, 
while  it  softens  the  sterner  features  of  what  at  the 
time  displeased ;  and  you  return  from  cLissic 
scenes  to  an  island  home,  not  indeed  to  erect  a 
Parnassus,  like  that  which  Horace  Walpole  so 
wittily  describes,  but  to  wander,  in  recollection, 
again  and  again  over  those  lovely  regions,  which 
the  Mediterranean  washes  with  its  tideless  waves. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

NOTES  UN  THE  POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF  ITALY. 

EFFECTS  OF  CLIMATE — THE  NATIONAL  CHARACTER — INFLUENCE  OF 
DF^POTISM  AND  OP  THE  FINE  ARTS — PICTURES  AND  CIVILIZATION 
— THE  AUSTRIAN  GOVERNMENT — ITS  FINANCES  AND  SOLDIERY — 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PRESENT  STATE  OF  LOMBARDY,  VENICE, 
TUSCANY,  THE  PAPAL  TERRITORY,  AND  NAPLES — MR.  GLADSTONE'S 
PAMPHLET — THE  LAST  OF  THE  BOURBONS — PIEDMONT  AND  SAR- 
DINIA— PROPHECY  OF  SIR  E.  BULWER  LYTTON— PROSPERITY  OF 
THAT     KINGDOM — THE    HOPES    OF    ITALY    CENTRED    IN    TURIN — 

POLITICAL  OPINIONS  OF  THE  ITALIANS THEIR    CHOICE    BETWEEN 

MILITARY  TYRANNY  AND  REPUBLICANISM — INSTABILITY  OF  THE 
GOVERNMENTS  NOW  IN  EXISTENCE — FEELINGS  OF  THE  PEOPLE 
TOWARDS  THE  KING  OF  NAPLES — SPREAD  OF  DISAFFECTION  TO 
THE    PAPACY — PROSPECTS   OF    PROTESTANTISM. 


"  Italia,  Italia  !  0  tu  cui  die  la  sorte 
Dono  infelice  di  bellezza,  ond'  hai 
Funesta  dote  d'  infiniti  guai 
Ch'  en  fronte  scritte  per  gran  doglia  porte  ; 
Deh,  fossi  tu  men  bella,  o  almen  piu  forte." 

The  motto  from  Filicaja,  prefixed  to  this  chapter, 
explains  one  of  tlie  numerous  and  complicated 
causes  which  have  contributed  to  the  degTadation 
of  a  land,  well  described  by  Cooper,  the  American 


160 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


novelist,   as    "  mighty    in    its    recollections,   but 
impotent  in  its  actual  condition."     Tasso  speaks 
of  its  delicious  air,  serene  sky,  beautiful  trees  and 
meadows,  and  charming  waters  ;  *  no  doubt  these 
natural  attractions  afford  gratification  to  the  tra- 
veller whose  home  is  nearer  the  frozen  sea,  for 
to  Italy  flows  a  constant  stream  of  valetudinarians, 
who    seek    a    more    genial    climate,    of   persons 
interested   in    the   relics    of   olden  times,  and  of 
tourists,  who  wish  to  see  with  their  own  eyes  the 
present  state  of  a  country,  so  favoured  by  nature 
and  so  celebrated  in  European  history.     But  the 
advantages  of  situation,  geological  structure  and 
soil,  conferred  with  such  profusion  by  Providence 
on   this  peninsula,    have    their   drawbacks.     The 
Neapolitan,  whose  olive-tree  flourishes  alike  in  the 
fertile  valley  or  the  rocky  ridge, — in  whose  garden 
the  Indian  com,  watered  by  the  streams  from  the 
Apennines,  springs  up  with  musliroom  speed   to 
fill   his   barns   for  months  after  harvest,  has    no 
stimulus  to  exertion,  like  that  which  rouses  all  the 


•  "  V'e  I'aura  molle,  e  il  ciel  sereno,  e  lieti 
Gli  alberi  ed  i  prati,  e  pure  e  dolci  1'  onde." 

Gcrusalemme  Lilerata. 


EFFECTS   OF   CLIMATE. 


161 


r 


energies  of  a  German  or  a  Briton  ;  *  Dolce  far  niente 
is  the  maxim  for  him  ;  he  bakes  his  polenta,  basks 
in  the  sun,  and  lives  the  life  of  a  vegetable. 

Climate,  south  of  the  Alps,  in  some  respects 
does  the  work  which  the  farmer  of  the  north  does 
for  liimself;  whilst  in  towns  labourers  may 
acquire,  by  a  few  weeks  of  active  exertion, 
sufficient  to  fill  their  bellies  during  the  remainder 
of  the  year.  Warm  clothing  they  can  dispense 
with  where  frost  and  snow  are  unknown,  and, 
except  amongst  the  highest  mountains,  a  frail 
covering  of  timber  answers  all  the  purj)oses  of  a 
house.  An  indolent  temperament  of  body,  every- 
one knows,  generally  produces  a  coiTCsponding 
inertness  of  mind  fatal  to  tlie  best  interests  of  a 
people.  If  an  energetic  patriot  arise,  he  finds  men 
affected  by  a  languor  which  paralyses  all  his 
efforts  to  bring  about  a  social  or  political  refor- 
mation :  the  senses  must  be  gratified,  but  the 
mind  remain  a  blank ;  the  theatre,  the  gaming- 
table, and  the  lounge,  usurp  that  place  which  wise 

•  Seneca,  de  Ira,  lib.  ii.  says  :  "  Fere  itaque  imperia  penes  eos 
fuere  populos,  qui  mitiore  coelo  utuntur  :  in  frigora  septentri- 
onemque  vergentibua  immansueta  ingenia  sunt,  ut  ait  poeta, 
suoque  simillinia  cosh." 


162 


THE  TAGUS  AND  TUE  TIBER. 


INFLUENCE  OF   DESPOTISM. 


163 


men  allot  to  the  literary  society,  the  workshop, 
and  the  schoolroom  ;  education  becomes  univer- 
sally neglected,  because  a  livelihood  can  be  earned 
without  it ;  and  philanthropic  projects  fall  to  the 
ground  for  want  of  men  who  will  take  the  trouble 
to  put  them  in  execution.  Had  Italy  enjoyed 
fewer  of  nature's  bounties,  j^erhaps  her  people 
would  have  at  this  moment  occupied  a  very 
different  position  among  the  powers  of  the  earth. 

The  national  character  presents  a  singuhar  blend- 
ing of  somewhat  incongruous  materials.  Quick 
in  acquiring  knowledge,  excelled  by  none  in  dis- 
cernment, eloquent  from  their  birth,  skilful  in 
intrigue,  and  devoted  to  the  beautiful  they  are 
slaves  to  extremes  of  passion,  though  docile  when 
not  incensed  by  injury ;  eager  to  render  their 
country  the  abode  of  empire,  yet  never  able  to 
devise  well-ordered  plans  for  its  liberation  ;  at  one 
time  you  think  you  have  found  a  clue  to  their 
inmost  feelings,  the  next  moment  you  find  yourself 
deceived ;  like  the  tints  of  an  autumnal  sky,  when 
clouds  at  sunset  rest  on  the  horizon,  they  present 
all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  to  the  perplexed 
observer.      A  more  philosophical  review  of  past 


•> 


times  might  have  performed  miracles  on  behalf 
of  the  Italian  people ;  but  they  have  not  learned 
aright  the  salutary  lessons  of  adversity  ;  blaming 
fate  for  what  resulted  very  much  from  their  own 
errors,  they  acknowledge  neither  the  justice  of  the 
punishment,  nor  the  wisdom  of  Him,  who,  when 
offended,  showed  Himself  severe  ;  they  proclaim 
themselves  entirely  the  victims  of  circumstances, 
forgetting  those  maxims  of  self-examination, 
which  may  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Plato, 
as  well  as  in  the  oracles  of  God.  If  true  to 
themselves,  aware  of  their  short-comings,  and 
ready  to  profit  by  experience,  they  might  even 
now  have  been  triumphing  over  the  oppressor. 

But  let  us  not  be  unjust,  and,  while  assigning 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Peninsula  that  portion  of 
censure  which  they  deserve,  keep  out  of  view  the  fact 
so  justly  stated  by  Mr.  Whiteside,*  that  "  the 
absolutism  of  the  governments  degrades  the  people, 
and  tends  to  unfit  them  for  political  business." 
"  It  seems  the  height  of  injustice,"  says  that 
accomplished  writer,  "  to  accuse  men  of  ignorance 
and   incompetence,    when   they   are   not   suffered 

*  Italy  iu  the  Nineteenth  Century. 


164 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


to  exercise  their  understandings,  or  show  their 
ability  for  public  life."  The  reasonableness  of 
this  remark  will  approve  itself  at  once  to  every 
impartial  mind,  who  knows  how  long  a  training 
men  require  before  they  can  with  safety  be 
permitted  to  govern  themselves.  Even  English 
jurisprudence  has  not  been  the  birtli  oi'  a  day. 
Europe  admires  our  senate  house  and  coui'ts  of 
law,  our  freedom  of  speech  and  love  of  order; 
but  these  things  have  been  the  growth  of  time, 
the  fruits  of  trial  and  error,  the  harvest  of  tliat 
seed  sown  by  the  barons  on  Runnymede,  and 
watered  by  the  Declaration  of  Rights. 

No  great  work  can  be  perfected  w^ithout  years 
of  experience  and  development ;  and  if  a  race 
are  to  be  pronounced  incapable  of  self-government, 
the  verdict  must  be  founded  on  the  failure  of  a 
lengthened  apprenticeship,  not  hastily  given  after 
centuries  of  oppression.  If  "  domestic  fury  and 
fierce  civil  strife  cumber  all  the  parts  of  Italy,''*  the 
blame  does  not  wholly  lie  with  the  natives,  but  witli 
those  w^ho  have  deprived  them  of  the  riglits  of  citi- 
zenship, and  of  every  privilege  which  ennobles  man. 

•  Julius  Cacsai*. 


INFLUEN'CE   OF   DESPOTISM. 


165 


Historians  tell  us  of  the  Mogul  Emperor  Timour, 
who,  after  ravaging  Asia  by  fire  and  sword,  left 
pyramids  of  human  heads,  as  so  many  holocausts 
on  the  altar  of  social  order.  Different,  it  may  be, 
in  degree,  but  similar  in  kind,  are  the  measures 
which  Gennan  princes  have  taken  to  overawe  the 
injured  inhabitants  of  the  south;  military  law 
carries  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Lombards,  and 
Tuscany  has  become  a  barrack  for  Croats. 

"  Italia  !  thou  art  but  a  gi-ave 
Where  flowers  luxuriate  o'er  the  brave  ; 
And  Nature  gives  her  treasures  birth 
O'er  all  that  had  been  great  on  earth." 

But  a  resistance  deriving  its  source  from  the 
deepest  springs  of  the  human  heart  has  never 
ceased  to  oppose  this  wanton  exercise  of  power ; 
sedition  may  for  a  time  have  been  quiet,  and 
tranquillity  have  appeared  on  the  surface  of  the 
land;  let  it  not  be  imagined,  however,  that 
bayonets  have  chained  the  mind,—"  lo  mormorito  ' 
quetamente  suo7ia,''  and  if  Petrarch  could  arise 
from  the  dead  to  sing  of  Italian  liberty,  he 
would  find  the  Venetian  still  gazing  on  the 
spoils  of  Constantinople,  the   Florentine   on   his 


166 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBEK. 


knees  within  the  holy  precincts  of  Santa  Croce, 
and  the  Roman  musing  among  the  edifices  of  tlie 
Forum.  As  hidden  fires  slumber  heneatli  the 
volcanic  rocks  of  the  Apennines,  so  the  armies  of 
des]iotism  cmsh  tlie  uprisings  of  a  people  cherisli- 
ing  an  unquenchable  desire  to  be  free. 

No  one  who  has  perused  the  foregoing  pages 
will  accuse  me  of  contemning  the  fine  arts ;  but 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  admiring  the 
works  of  Raffaelle  and  Canova,  and  attaching  to 
these  works  an  influence  highly  beneficial  to  civi- 
lization. How  many  display  a  just  sense  of  the 
beautifid,  without  feeling  the  want  of  what  we  in 
England  now  consider  the  necessaries  of  life! 
Not  only  does  the  workshop  require  much  more 
mind  and  industry  than  the  studio,  but  its  benefits 
multiply  themselves,  and  proportionably  add  to 
the  material  prosperity  of  a  nation. 

Hundreds  of  men  in  Italy  are  employed  in 
providing  "Madonnas"  for  the  cottages  of  the 
peasants,  little  daubs  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the 
2yenates  of  a  superstitious  race;  would  it  not 
conduce  in  a  greater  degree  to  the  progress  of  the 
country,  if  they  abandoned  a  pursuit  so  unrepro- 


THE   FINE   ARTS. 


167 


ductive,  for  the  silk  factory  or  the  flax  mill? 
Vast  fields  of  lint  and  hemp  may  be  seen  in  most 
parts  of  the  Peninsula  ;  but  the  labourers  who  for 
ages  ought  to  have  been  busy  converting  their 
produce  into  garments,  rope,  and  sail-cloth,  have 
been  building  palaces,  cutting  marble,  and  studying 
paints ;  every  one  possesses  a  bad  picture,  but  an 
ill-furnished  house, — a  head  of  Dante,  but  scarcely 
sufficient  clothing  to  appear  in  open  day ;  whilst 
our  middle  classes  enjoy  the  luxuries  which  repro- 
ductive industry  places  within  their  reach,  the 
admirer  of  aesthetic  excellence  south  of  the  Alps 
knows  nothing  of  the  comforts  of  home. 

During  the  day  he  may  lounge  in  the  galleries 
where  Guido  delights  the  eye,  but  in  the  evening 
he  returns  to  a  dreary  room  in  some  old  palazzo, 
where,  by  the  light  of  a  glimmering  candle,  he 
gropes  his  way  to  a  tottering  table  and  a  crazy 
bed;  he  may  be  able  critically  to  examine  the 
masterpieces  of  Titian,  but  as  a  man  of  business 
he  is  on  a  par  with  the  Chippeway ;  an  English 
schoolboy  has  more  acquaintance  with  real  life, 
and  the  backwoodsman  on  the  Missouri  can  better 
appreciate  the  useful  arts.      Manufactures,  litera- 


168 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ture,  and  politics,  are  excluded  from  the  thoughts 
of  a  people  tlius  unnaturally  engrossed  with  the 
beauties  of  design  ;  and  when  any  unforeseen  occur- 
rence disarranges  the  outward  haniiony  of  things, 
they  rush  to  extremes,  behave  like  irrational 
creatures,  and  rivet  their  chains. 

The  civilization  of  painting,  statuary,  architec- 
ture, and  music  has  not  reared  the  fabric  of 
English  greatness,  nor  raised  in  the  western  world 
one  of  the  mightiest  nations  of  the  earth  ;  we  must 
look  for  its  effects  to  Bavaria  or  Italy,  where 
pictures  employ  thousands,  and  every  villa  has  its 
rows  of  statues.  In  these  as  well  as  other  countries 
government  encourages,  by  every  means  in  its 
power,  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  knowing  that  those 
who  devote  themselves  to  this  pursuit  fomi  the 
most  obedient  of  unintelligent  slaves.  Whilst  the 
inhabitants  of  Naples  and  Munich  live  more  poorly 
than  did  the  Saxons  of  the  Heptarchy,  the  trades- 
men of  Liverpool  and  New  York  sit  down  in  their 
well -furnished  parlours,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  to  a  meal  consisting  of  articles  known 
only  to  the  noblesse  of  Italy.  An  English 
operative  who  reads  Chambers's  Journal  and  the 


THE   FINE  ARTS. 


169 


Mechanics'  Magazine,  is  surely,  notwithstanding 
his  ignorance  of  artistic  merit,  a  much  more 
civilized  being  than  the  workman  of  Florence; 
however  incapable  of  pronouncing  on  the  beautiful, 
he  is  a  more  enlightened,  a  -w^ser,  a  more  useful 
man. 

It  would  be  well  for  all  countries  whose  people 
have   been  trained   on  the   aesthetic  principle,  to 
devote  a  greater  degree  of  attention  to  the  ordi- 
nary arts  of  life,  to  reproductive  industry,  and  the 
cultivation  of  a  taste  for  what  will  benefit,  leaving 
those  who  have  leisure  and  money  to  discuss  the 
humanising   influences    of   music    and    statuary-. 
Had  we  been  producing  frescoes  instead  of  calicos, 
Glasgow    might    have    been    as   Venice,  and    a 
foreigner  occupying  the  throne  of  the  Plantagenets. 
As  long  as  human  nature  remains  unchanged,  the 
fine  arts  will  have  a  prominent  place  among  men  ; 
but  to  talk  of  their  civilizing   effects,  shows   an 
acquaintance   neither  with   history,  nor  with  the 
actual  condition  of  Europe.     It  is  no  new  idea 
that  they  have  tended  greatly  to  retard  the  civi- 
lization of  Italy;  and   in  every  view  of  Italian 
VOL,  II,  H 


170 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


affairs  their  influence,  past  and  present,  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of. 

Let  me  now,  however,  direct  the  reader's  atten- 
tion more  particularly  to  the  political  state  of  that 
Peninsula,  the  destinies  of  which  seem  at  present 
entirely   to   depend    upon    the   future   history   of 
Austria.     Dr.  Johnson   somewhere  remarks,  that 
'*  the  more  contracted  power  is,  the  more  easily  it 
is  destroyed, — a  country  governed  by  a  despot  is 
an  inverted  cone.^'     No  truer  saying  ever  escaped 
the  lips  of  a  moralist ;  and  it  applies  with  double 
force  to  the  bm-eaucracy  of  Vienna.     Every  one 
whom  you  meet  in  England  fears  "  sad  work  on 
the  continent  soon;"  notwithstanding  all  the  pre- 
cautions of  tyranny,  and  the  unfortunate  effects  of 
revolution,  confidence  has  not  been  restored.     And 
whither  do  we  look  for  the  outburst,  or  at  least  for 
the  cabinet  and  dynasty  which  is  least  able  to  resist 
popular  wrath  ?    Assuredly  to  the  banks  of  the  Po 
and  Danube,  where   Hungarians   and   Lombards 
writhe    in    their    chains.      In   1848,   Mettemich 
thought  himself  secure  at  Schonbrunn;    and  he 
was  really  so,  compared  with  the  present  counsel- 


' 


POLITICAL  TROUBLES. 


171 


lors  of  the  Archduchess  Sophia,  the  virtual  ruler 
of  those  various  nations  which  the  Congress  of 
1815  consigned  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  house 
of  Ilapsburg. 

But  whether  political  troubles  arise  or  not,  the 
storm  has  begun  to  gather  in  another  quarter,  a 
quarter  from  which  it  came  before.  "  Nations," 
said  Burke  half  a  century  ago,  "  are  wading  deeper 
and  deeper  into  an  ocean  of  boundless  debt.  Public 
debts,  which  at  first  were  a  security  to  government, 
by  interesting  many  in  the  public  tranquillity,  are 
likely  in  their  excess  to  become  the  means  of  their 
subversion.  If  governments  provide  for  these 
debts  by  heavy  impositions,  they  perish  by  be- 
coming odious  to  the  people.  If  they  do  not 
pro\dde  for  them,  they  will  be  undone  by  the 
efforts  of  the  most  dangerous  of  all  parties ;  I  mean, 
an  extensive,  discontented  monied  interest,  injured 
and  not  destroyed."*  On  this  subject  I  appeal, 
not  to  Mr.  Cobden,  the  advocates  of  peace,  or  the 
denouncers  of  foreign  loans,  but  to  every  man  who 
has    studied    the    fluctuations    of   the  Bourse    at 

*  French  Revolution,  p.  219. 
H    2 


172 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


Vienna,  or  the  efforts  made  by  the  cabinet  to  obtain 
money  since  the  Hungarian  war.* 

If  these  obvious  proofs  of  extreme  need  have 
not  been  noticed,  let  the  candid  mind  weigh  the 
sentiments  expressed  ten  years  ago  by  the  most 
philosophical  traveller  who  has  yet  described  the 
dominions  of  Hapsburg  beyond  the  Danube. 
"  The  Austrian  exchequer,"  says  Mr.  Paget,t  '*  it  is 
well  known,  is  and  has  been  for  centuries  in  a  mise- 
rably low  state ;  and  there  are  no  arts,  except  those 
of  enlightened  and  honest  administration,  which 

have  not  been  put  in  practice  to  improve  it 

The  end  of  this  government  has  been  two  national 
bankruptcies,  the  destruction  of  all  commerce  from 
w^ithout,  and  of  all  energy  and  enterprise  within.'' 

This  account  of  things  is  sufficient  to  alarm 
every  cautious  capitalist;  but  how  mucli  have 
matters  altered  for  the  worse  since  1842?  A 
bloody,  expensive  war  has  occurred  in  Hungary  ; 

*  "  It  is  indeed,"  says  Sir  "Walter  Scott,  "  on  the  subject  of 
finance  and  taxation,  that  almost  all  revolutions  among  civilized 
nations  have  been  found  to  hinge." — Life  of  Napoleon,  chap.  83. 

t  "  Himgary  and  Transylvania."  By  J.  Paget,  Esq.  Vol.  i. 
p.  409 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  539. 


THE  AUSTRIAN   GOVERNMENT. 


173 


an  equally  costly  struggle  has  agitated  Lombardy ; 
and  at  the  present  moment  Austrian  troops  have  to 
be  clothed,  fed,  and  paid,  to  garrison  both  Holstein 
and  Tuscany.  What  sum  it  annually  requires  to 
maintain  this  gigantic  military  establishment,  tlie 
war  minister  only  knows ;  but  every  one  may 
safely  put  it  down  as  something  enormous. 

Now,  if  it  be  true  that  armies  are  vast  masses 
of  men,  who  ought  to  be  engaged  in  productive 
labour,  grievously  misemployed ;  if  large  suras  of 
money  must  be  forthcoming  to  prevent  mutiny  ; 
and  if  pecuniary  embarrassment  stares  Francis 
Joseph  in  the  face ;  what  is  to  become  of  a  dynasty 
whicli,  again  to  quote  from  Edmund  Bm'ke,  '*  de- 
pends entirely  upon  tlie  army,"  and  has  "  indus- 
tiHOusly  destroyed  all  the  opinions  and  prejudices, 
and,  as  far  as  in  it  lay,  all  the  instincts  which 
support  government?"  In  Transylvania,  every 
official  is  sent  to  Coventry  by  the  nobility;  in 
Hungary,  wide-spread  dissatisfaction  prevails ;  the 
Viennese  sympathise  with  freedom  ;  Russia  tam- 
pers with  the  Sclavonic  races  ;  and  in  Lombardy 
you  see  only  gaping  cannon,  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  to  sweep  the  streets.     It  would  require  a 


174 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


much  more  stable  government  than  that  of  Austria 
to  retain  permanent  possession  of  the  valley  of  the 
Po.     Its  inhabitants  have  shown  a  restless,  dis- 
satisfied spirit  during  many  ages  :  in  the  eleventh 
century  they  burned  Pavia  to  the  ground ;  in  the 
twelfth  they  formed  the  league  of  Cremona  against 
Frederic  Barbarossa,  unawed  by  the  capture  and 
destruction  of  ^Milan  ;  and  before  that  period  closed 
they  had  taught  that  haughty  conqueror  a  lesson 
which  his  successors  would  do  well  to  keep  in  mind. 
"  By  a  certain  class  of  statesmen,'*  says  Ilallam, 
"  and  by  all  men  of  harsh  and  violent  disposition, 
measures  of  conciliation,  adlierence  to  the  spirit  of 
treaties,  regard  to  ancient  privileges  or  to  those 
rules  of  moral  justice  which  are  paramount  to  all 
positive  right,  are    always  treated  with  derision. 
Terror  is  their  only  specific,  and  the  physical  in- 
ability to  rebel  their  only  security  for  allegiance."* 
These  measures  Barbarossa  tried  against  the  cities 
•  of  Lombardy  ;  but  he  tried  them  in  vain :  at  Leg- 
nano  they  routed  his  formidable  forces,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  conclude  an  armistice,  which  ended 
in  the  peace  of  Constance  and  the  liberties  of  Italy. 

*  Middle  Ages,  vol.  i.  p.  239. 


THE   AUrSTPJAN   GOVERNMENT. 


175 


By  their  disunion,  the  inhabitants  did  not  pre- 
serve the  prize  thus  nobly  won  ;  jealousy,  faction, 
and  civil  hate,  conspired  again  to  open  the  Alpine 
passes  to  the  Germans,   and    Milan   became   the 
possession    of    a    foreign    power.      Thus  Heaven 
punishes  those  who,  wasteful  of  its  gifts,  blast  by 
internal  strife  the  prospects  of  their  native  land. 
But   the   spirit  of  the  people   has  not  yet  been 
broken ;  they  obey  the  myrmidons  of  bureaucracy, 
but  they  obey  them  with  ill-dissembled  reluctance ; 
the  uniform  of  Austria  is  an  eyesore  in  town  and 
country  ;    they  would  rather  trust  the  uncertain 
revolutions  of  the  wheel  of  fortune  than  submit  to 
the  constant  annoyances  to  which  esjr>ionnage  and 
martial  law  expose  them ;  and  whatever  political 
events  may  happen  in  Europe,  they  will  be  ready 
to  unfurl  the  standard  of  revolt.     No  one  but  the 
Eternal  knows  in  what  manner  punishment  will 
fall   on   the    aggressor;    but   every    consideration 
leads  us  to  the  conclusion,  that  a  more  precarious 
tenure  does  not  exist  than  that  by  which  a  German 
army  governs  the  north  of  Italy. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  incidents  in  the  late 


176 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


war  was  tlie  heroic  defence  of  Venice.  It  reminded 
ns  of  her  better  days,  when  Dandolo,  with  his  five 
hundred  ships,  sailed  to  attack  Byzantium ;  or 
when  John  Palseologus  passed  under  the  Rialto  to 
visit  the  republic  "  strong  in  the  sea.'*  We  north- 
ems  had  the  impression  that  every  spark  of  Ve- 
netian bravery  had  been  extinguished  by  the 
tyranny  of  strangers  and  the  influence  of  sloth ; 
but  Manin  opened  our  eyes  to  the  gratifying  fact, 
that  a  love  of  freedom  still  prevails  in  the  Queen 
of  the  Adriatic  ;  and  that,  if  not  destined  to  restore 
her  doge,  she  may  yet  occupy  a  prominent  position 
on  the  theatre  of  Italian  politics. 

Passing  over  Tuscany,  which  now,  being  gar- 
risoned by  Austrian  soldiers,  may  be  considered 
part  of  Lombardy,  we  come  to  the  Papal  States, 
the  present  political  position  of  which  must  be 
familiar  to  every  educated  Englishman.  Sir  Ed- 
ward Bulwer  Lytton  has  well  said,  that  "  a  reform- 
ing Pope  is  a  lucky  accident;  and  dull  indeed 
must  be  the  brain  which  believes  in  the  possibility 
of  a  long  succession  of  reforming  Popes,  or  which 
can  regard  as  other  than  precarious  and  unstable 


THE   PAPAL  GOVERNMENT. 


177 


the  discordant  combination  of  a  coiistitutional 
government  with  an  infallible  head."*  Most  of 
the  pontiffs  have  been  raised  to  the  chair  when 
advanced  in  years ;  and,  however  benevolent  in 
their  disposition,  have  found  themselves  unable  to 
resist  the  claims  of  relatives  or  the  miworthy 
measures  of  official  corruption. 

It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  papal 
court  should  be  othenvise  than  corrupt ;  in  all  ages 
the  government  lias  been  nearly  intolerable ;  and 
now,  when  other  countries  have  made  such  giant 
strides,  it  remains  more  barbarous  than  ever.  Agri- 
culture is  neglected,  trade  languishes,  mui'ders 
prevail,  and  robbers  roam  the  mountains  unawed 
by  officer  or  priest.  "  Chi  considera  bene  la  legge 
evangelica,"  wrote  Vettori  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
"vedr^  i  pontefici,  ancora  che  tenghino  il  nome 
di  vicario  di  Christo,  haver  indutto  una  nova  reli- 
gione,  che  non  ve  n'^  altro  di  Christo  che  il  nome  ; 
il  qual  comanda  la  povertii  e  loro  vogliono  la 
richezza,  comanda  la  humilta  e  laro  vogliono  la 
superbia,  comanda  la  obedientia  e  loro  vogliono 
coraandar  a  ciascuno." 

*  Rienzi,  preface,  p.  ix. 

h3 


178 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBEIT. 


The  occupation  of  Rome  by  the  French,  in 
order  to  keep  out  the  Austrians,  who  already  gar- 
rison Bologna,  the  second  city  in  the  states,  can  be 
more  suitably  discussed  by  the  correspondents  of 
newspapers  than  in  these  pages ;  its  history  is 
recent,  and  every  one  knows  the  circumstances. 
But  the  cardinals  do  not  like  their  masters  ;  and 
by  all  means  in  their  power  they  are  trying  to 
disgust  the  government  at  Paris,  in  order  to  bring 
about  the  recal  of  those  troops  which  stand  in  the 
way  of  German  regiments.  Devoted  to  Austrian 
interests,  the  priests  hire  niffians  to  assault  and 
murder  General  Gemeau's  soldiers ;  and  several 
of  the  latter  expressed  themselves  to  me  heartily 
disgusted  with  their  quarters.  The  [)eople  despise 
them,  and  the  papal  officers  plot  to  annoy  them  ; 
no  wonder  that  both  officers  and  men  would  rather 
serve  their  country  in  Algiers. 

Let  us  turn  from  these  distracted  provinces  to 
consider  the  state  of  matters  at  Naples, — that  un- 
happy kingdom  whose  inhabitants  owe  Mr.  Glad- 
stone such  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  manly  expose 
of  an  iniquitous  government.  To  quote  from  his 
pamphlet  would  be  unnecessary,  for  every  one  inte- 


CTATE   OF   NAPLES. 


179 


rested  in  the  suppression  of  cmelty  will  read  it, 
however  few  think  of  wasting  time  in  perusing 
that  reply,  which,  to  our  shame  be  it  said,  Ferdinand 
has  found  an  Englishman  unworthy  enough  to 
publish.  Twenty  thousand  human  beings  in  prison 
for  political  offiinces !  A  majority  of  the  late 
Chamber  of  Deputies  either  exiled  or  in  fetters ! 
Tlie  executive  power  deliberately  employing  as 
spies  the  very  dregs  of  society  !  Acquitted  pri- 
soners still  in  dungeons !  Judges  approving  per- 
jury, and  browbeating  witnesses !  Poerio  doomed 
to  a  death  worse  than  beheading  !  Can  we  wonder 
that  Mr.  Gladstone  calls  such  things  *^  gigantic 
horrors,  which  prepare  the  way  for  a  violent  revo- 
lution'' against  a  government,  "  itself  the  grand 
law-breaker  and  malefactor,  the  first  in  rank  among 
oppressors,  the  deadly  enemy  of  freedom  and  intel- 
ligence, the  active  fomenter  and  instigator  of  the 
\'ilest  comiptions  among  the  people  ?" 

Further  comment  on  this  system  of  iniquity  is 
scarcely  necessary.  The  ruler  who  seeks  to  build 
his  hopes  of  permanent  power  on  the  corruption  of 
his  people,  who  transgresses  the  limits  of  that 
** moral   competence"    inherent    in    the    supreme 


180 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


STATE   OF   NAPLES. 


181 


authority,  and  thus  makes  rebellion  no  crime,  is 
like  a  sailor  walking  the  deck  of  his  vessel,  while 
combustion  chars  the  bulkhead  of  the  powder- 
magazine  below.  As  soon  as  Paris  or  Vienna  gives 
the  signal,  there  will  be  nothing  for  the  last  of  the 
Bourbons  but  exile  or  death. 

There  was  another  Ferdinand,  who  in  the 
fifteenth  century  pursued  at  Naples  a  similar  course 
— perfidious  to  his  nobles,  cruel  to  the  middle  class, 
calamity  at  length  overtook  him,  and  his  posterity 
ceased  to  reign.  But  his  modem  namesake  will 
not  take  warning,  a  judicial  blindness  seems  to 
cover  his  eyes,  and  he  continues  a  career  of  reck- 
less tyranny,  reminding  me  of  that  eloquent  passage 
in  Sheridan's  invective  against  another  branch  of 
the  same  miserable  race :  "  What  but  a  superior 
abhorrence  of  that  accursed  system  of  despotic 
government  which  had  so  deformed  and  corrupted 
human  natm'e  as  to  make  its  subjects  capable  of 
such  acts ;  a  government  that  sets  at  nought  the 
property,  the  liberty,  and  lives  of  the  subjects ;  a 
government  that  deals  in  extortion,  dungeons,  and 
tortures ;  sets  an  example  of  depravity  to  the 
slaves  it  rules  over: — and  if  a  day  of  power  comes 


It 


to  the  wretched  populace,  'tis  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  however  it  is  to  be  regretted,  that  they  act 
without  those  feelings  of  justice  and  humanity  of 
which  the  principles  and  the  practice  of  their 
governors  have  stripped  them."  How  applicable 
this  description  of  the  French  Bourbons  to  their 
cousins  at  Naples ! 

As  long  as  corruption,  cruelty,  and  despotism 
desolate  this  unhappy  country,  we  cannot  expect 
that  Calabria  will  emerge  from  that  barbarism 
which  for  centuries  has  diverted  from  it  the  stream 
of  travellers,  or  renounce  those  superstitious  prac- 
tices which  have  never  been  uprooted  among  the 
mountains  since  idolatry  was  destroyed.  No  one 
requires  to  be  told  that  Sicily  has  for  many  years 
been  ripe  for  rebellion ;  the  massacre  at  Catania 
and  the  bombardment  of  Messina  sufficiently  attest 
that:  but  the  traveller  who  has  conversed  wdth  the 
people  on  the  mainland  knows  that  they  too  show 
as  undoubted  symptoms  of  a  bloody  outbreak,  as 
Vesmdus  does  of  a  near  eruption,  when  smoke  in 
the  form  of  a  pine-tree  fills  with  terror  the  in- 
habitants of  the  plain. 

My  remarks  have  hitherto  been  directed  to  the 


v 


182 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


SARDINIA. 


183 


dark  side  of  the  picture  ;  but  amidst  this  gloom 
there  is  hope,  for  freedom  has  not  yet  entirely 
deserted  even  Italy ;  one  bright  spot  in  the  land- 
scape relieves  the  wearied  eye,  and  encourages 
expectations  of  a  better  future. 

If  the  gift  of  prophecy  has  descended  to  modern 
times,  in  one  instance  at  least  it  may  be  claimed 
by  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton.     Many  years  ago, 
when   Europe  wore   a  very   different   aspect,   he 
penned  this    remarkable    sentence: — "The    time 
must  come  when   Sardinia  will  lead  the  van  of 
Italian  civilization,  and  take  a  proud  place  among 
the  greater  nations  of  Europe."     That  time  has 
come — a  people   once  toni   asunder   by  intestine 
contentions,  have  united  to  follow  the  footsteps  of 
England,  by  establishing  and  supporting  a  consti- 
tutional   government,    under    which    agriculture, 
manufactures,    and   the   useful    arts    promise    to 
flourish,  as  they  have  never  yet  done  south  of  the 
Alpine  ranges.    Once  Piedmont  was  the  persecutor 
of    the   Waldenses,   the    incarnation   of    bigoted 
cruelty;  now  she  has  established  liberty  of  worship, 
and  a  Protestant  chapel  is  being  erected  at  Turin : 
formerly  her  ministers  approved  of  that  prohibitory 


>.^ 


fiscal  system  from  which  commerce  has  suffered  so 
much  in  the  Mediterranean ;  but  during  the  past 
year  they  have  concluded  a  free-trade  treaty  with 
England,  and  prosperity  has  returned  to  Genoa  to 
an  extent  even  beyond  the  expectations  of  the 
most  sanguine  mind.  What  a  change  has  this 
liberal  policy  produced  within  the  last  few  years  ! 

Not   long   ago   the  city  of  the  Dorias  seemed 
rapidly  hastening,    like   Venice,-  to   a   prematin-e 
decay;  but  of  late  that  retrograde  movement  has 
l)een  stopped;  in  1849  I  observed  manifest  symp- 
toms of  improvement,  and  in  1851  the  appearance 
of  the  Porto  Franco,  or  quarter  of  bonded  ware- 
houses, quite  surprised  me.     One  could  scarcely 
move  for  the  crowd  of   merchants,  clerks,  ware- 
housemen,   and   porters,   busily   engaged    among 
bale-goods   and   produce  ;    the   quays    resembled 
those  of  Liverpool  or  New  York,  more  than  the 
deserted  whan^es  of  a   declining   land ;   and   the 
business   there   transacted   has   so   outgrown    the 
capabilities  of  the  harbour,  that  it  is  said  govern- 
ment have  determined  to  abandon  the  arsenal  and 
dockyards  to  commercial  pui-poses,  and  remove  their 
establishment  to  La  Spezzia. 


184 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


Factories  are  likewise  greatly  increasing  in 
number,  especially  along  the  Mediterranean  coast ; 
a  railroad  will  soon  connect  Turin  with  its  sea- 
port ;  another  has  been  fixed  upon  to  the  frontiers 
of  Lombardy,  and  perhaps  ere  long  we  shall  hear 
of  Mr.  Stephenson  surveying  the  line  of  the  Alps, 
with  a  view  of  tunnelling  the  mountains  between 
the  Khone  and  the  Val  d'Aosta,  or  between  Susa 
and  the  valley  of  the  Isere. 

It  is  really  heart-cheering  now  to  stand  on  the 
pier  of  Genoa,  and  contemplate  the  forest  of  masts 
within  the  mole, — to  mix  w^ith  the  commercial  men 
on  the  Bourse,  or  at  the  Porto  Franco,  and  to  see 
the  vast  amount  of  traffic  on  the  road  toward  the 
lighthouse.     I  had  heard  of  the  rapid  strides  being 
made  by  Piedmont,  but  the  reality  surprised  me* 
From  Pietra  Santa  to  Nice,  from  Spezzia  to  Ge- 
neva, marks  of  industry,  energy,  and  progress  on 
every  side   appear— admirable   roads — well-culti- 
vated fields — silk  works— canvas  manufactories—- 
ship-building— railways— new  villas ;  all  bear  Avit- 
ness  to  a  rising  people,— a  people  who  must  inliUlibly 
lead  the  civilization  of  Italy.     They  have  no  ruins 
amongst  which  to  meditate,  unless  they  be  the 


POLITICAL  OPINIONS. 


185 


venerable  walls  of  Genoese  palaces;  but  the  mantle 
of  England  has  fallen  upon  them,  and  when  a 
period  of  freedom  has  brought  forth  its  proper 
fruit,  we  may  expect  to  see  all  that  is  good  and 
ffreat  in  the  Peninsula  rallying  round  the  throne  of 
Turin.    How  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  that  (jod 
who  has  so  ordered  it  that  a  country  once  the  high- 
place  of  ignorance,  has  hecome  the  very  stronghold 
and   refuge  of  Italian  patriotism!     Watch  well, 
ye  enemies  of  tyranny  over  the  independence  of 
Sardinia,  and  the  Uberties  of  the  Peninsula  are 

safe. 

Unfortunately  for  Central  and  Southern  Italy, 
her  people  have  no  choice  between  despotism  and 
democracy.  "  What  can  we  do  ?"  asked  some  of  them 
whom  I  met  while  travelling,  "  we  have  no  native 
princes  to  lead  us  ;  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  is 
an  Austrian ;  the  Pope  has  made  a  league  with  our 
oppressors  ;  the  King  of  Naples  is  a  tyrant  of  the 
worst  possible  kind— one  portion  of  the  nobility 
frowns  on  liberal  principles— the  other  possesses 
neither  energy  nor  talent ;  we  must  trust  to  the 
chapter  of  accidents,  and,  although  no  republicans 
in  theory,  Mazzini  is  our  man."    I  mourn  this 


186 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


lamentable  want  of  royal  leaders ;  but   the   fact 
no  one  can  dispute. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  Rienzi  cherished  a 
noble  idea  of  uniting  Italy  in  a  great  federal 
republic,  of  which  Rome  should  be  the  head,  and 
all  the  principal  cities  members.  His  messengers, 
bearing  in  their  hands  the  white  rods  of  embassy, 
traversed  the  Peninsula  to  explain  this  at  that 
time  visionary  scheme,  and  every^vhere  the  people 
on  their  knees  asked  Heaven  to  bless  the  under- 
taking. Italy  for  the  Italians — union  against  the 
north — local  administration,  but  mutual  dependence 
— were  the  watch-words  which  more  than  three 
hundred  years  ago  kindled  a  holy  ardour  in  the 
breast  of  the  last  of  the  Tribunes. 

Let  us  not  too  hastily  decide  that,  after  so  many 
ages  of  a  government  under  whicli  municipal 
institutions  have  been  nearly  destroyed,  republi- 
canism cannot  be  adopted  in  the  Peninsula,  for 
history  affords  notable  examples  to  render  a 
contrary  conclusion  probable.  No  provinces  en- 
joyed less  liberty,  or  suffered  more  grievously  from 
the  bureaucratic  principle  than  the  Spanish  colonies 
of  America  ;  yet  every  one  of  them  has  become  a 


REPUBLICANISM. 


187 


republic.     Such  has  always  been  the  tendency  of 
tlie  human  mind— to  rush  from  one  extreme  to 
another — when  released  from  a  despot's  bonds  to 
take  refuge  in  the  arms  of  democracy.     But  the 
evils  of  factious  uncertainty  will  in  every  age  be 
preferred  to  a  degrading  slavery  ;  and  wise  men 
will  consider  it  mere  sophistry  to  oppose  the  cause 
of    freedom,    on    account    of     "patriotism,"     as 
Dr.  Johnson  says,  being  "the  last  refuge  of  a 
scoundrel."      Politicians    of    impracticable     and 
visionary  views  will  be  found  in  every  climate. 
It  is  a  necessary  evil  attending  popular  movements, 
that  those  whose  mouths  never  cease  to  sound  the 
praises  of  liberty  and  charity  may  often  be  found 
at  heart  the  most  bitter  tyrants ;  but  none  of  these 
things  affect  the  great   principle   involved;    and 
where  freedom  has  degenerated  into  licence,  the 
careful  student  of  history  will   find,  that  to  the 
intolerant    rulei*s    must  be  ascribed    the    blame. 
My  impression  is,  that  republicanism,  in  one  form 
or  another,  will  establish  itself  on  the   ruins   of 
despotic  government  in  Italy. 

We  hear  a  great  deal  in  certain  quarters^  about 
the  military  strength  of  foreign  powers,  and  the 


188 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


INSTABILITY   OF  GOVERNMENTS. 


189 


impossibility  of  disturbing  that  arrangement  of 
states  made  by  the  Congress  at  Vienna ;  and  had 
governments  acted  with  wisdom,  had  they ''  arrested 
the  advances  of  arrogance  within  the  limits  of 
safety,"*  perhaps  their  position  would  have  been 
secure  :  but  it  has  not  been  so  ;  they  have  trampled 
on  the  rights  of  men,  broken  promises,  annulled 
constitutions,  bombarded  towTis,  shot  innocent 
victims,  and  given  to  their  subjects  a  secret  poison, 
which,  intended  to  deaden  their  sensibilities,  will 
first  impart  to  them  a  delirious  strength,  and 
enable  them  to  burst  their  bonds.  I  fear  that 
before  many  years  we  shall  see,  what  3Iacaulay 
justly  denominates,  "the  most  frightful  of  all 
spectacles—the  strength  of  civilization  without  its 
mercy." t  When  oppression  becomes  intolerable, 
the  fear  of  defeat  no  longer  acts  as  a  check  on 
rebellious  projects ;  but  despair  begets  an  unnatural 
courage,  the  fiery  cross  flits  from  tribe  to  tribe, 
beacons  blaze  on  the  mountains,  and  the  despot 
trembles  on  his  throne. 

It   would  be   well   if  the   three    governments, 

•  Isaac  Taylor's  "Spiritual  Despotiam,"  p.  326. 
t  Essay  on  Warren  Hastings,  p.  9. 


which  now  keep  down  Italy  by  armies,  would  take 
warning  from  the  terrible  though  latent  discontent 
of  the  people.  Alfieri  spoke  to  them  a  word  in 
season  when  he  exclaimed — 

"  Schiavi  siam,  ma  schiavi  ognor  frementi;" 

and  there  is  not  a  man  of  education  throughout 
the  country,  who,  if  he  dared,  would  not  tell  a 
similar  tale.  Perhaps  they  trust  to  the  want  of 
leaders  among  the  nobles,  and  the  absence  of 
patriotism  among  the  national  princes;  but  this 
affords  no  true  ground  of  confidence,  as  in 
England,  when  Major  Bridgenorth  so  propheti- 
cally addressed  Peveril  of  the  Peak—"  The  times 
demand  righters  and  avengers,  and  there  will  be  no 
want  of  them."  * 

John  of  Procida  was  a  humble  man,  an  insigni- 
ficant, though  devoted  adherent  of  Manfred  in  his 
contest  with  Charles  of  Anjou  for  the  Neapolitan 
sceptre;  but  when  that  struggle  terminated  disad- 
vantageously,  and  his  property  reverted  to  the 
crown,  he  crossed  over  to  Sicily ;  travelling  from 
town  to   town,   spread    disaffection    against    the 

•  Peveril  of  the  Peak,  vol.  i.  p.  180. 


190 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE  TIBER. 


government  of  France;  and  so  well  did  the  people 
conceal  his  projects,  that  no  one,  unacquainted  with 
the  secret,  knew  of  the  impending  blow  till  tlie 
memorable  eve  of  the  Sicilian  Vesjyers,  when  eight 
thousand  Gallic  soldiers  fell  victims  to  popular 
fury.*  The  history  of  that  awful  night  should  be 
carefully  pondered  by  Ferdinand  and  Filangreri ; 
they  now  repose  under  shadow  of  Austrian  pro- 
tection, not  heeding  the  murmurs  of  an  oppressed 
people,  or  the  universal  truth  of  Shakspeare's  re- 
mark, "  that  the  whirligig  of  time  brings  in  its 
revenges;"  f  but  to  me  their  conduct  appears  quite 
inexplicable,  unless  on  the  principle,  "Quem  Deus 
vidt  perdere,  prius  dementat." 

There  exists  in  Italy  a  feeling  against  the  King 
of  Naples  which  makes  one  shudder ;  "  the  per- 
jured," "the perfidious,"  "the assassin,"  sucharethe 
ternis  used  towards  him  even  by  those  who  talk  of 
the  Grand  Duke  Leopold  as  a  good-natured  elderly 
gentleman,  unfit  for  his  situation,  and  of  Pio  Nono 
as  the  tool  of  more  designing  men ;  the  latter  they 
would  banish  from  the  scene  of  their  mis-govem- 

*  See  Gibbon,  vol.  viii.    Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  vol.  i. 
t  Twelfth  Night,  Act  v.  Scene  1. 


I 


CHANGE   IN   RELIGIOUS  SENTIMENT. 


191 


ment,  the  former  they  reserve  to  endure  the  punish- 
ment due  to  crime.  It  is  a  sad  prospect  for  that 
lovely  country;  but  who  does  not  see  the  hand- 
writing on  the  wall?  I  do  not  expect  again  to 
cross  the  Simplon  until  another  Rienzi  has 
awakened  the  echoes  of  the  Forum,  and  the  last  of 
the  Bourbons  has  shared  the  exile  of  his  race. 

Tlie  revolutionary  troubles  and  the  oppressions 
of  the  absolutist  party,  have  combined  to  produce 
a  most  remarkable  change  in  the  sentiments  of  the 
Italian  people  regarding  the  Romish  faith.  In 
Lombardy,  Tuscany,  and  especially  in  Rome  itself, 
the  established  religion  has  received  a  shake  which 
may  well  excite  the  alarm  of  its  adherents ;  men 
cease  to  look  up  to  the  priests  as  oracles  of  wisdom, 
they  cannot  believe  that  God  would  commit  to 
hand.^  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  countrymen 
the  sole  keeping  of  his  mysteries ;  finding  church 
penalties  so  frequently  used  as  a  means  of  civil 
government,  they  have  begun  to  treat  them  as  of 
dubious  authority  ;  though  still  unacquainted  with 
the  Gospel,  a  few  years  more  of  despotism  will,  if 
we  can  trust  present  appearances,  make  them  ripe 
for  the  reception  of  Protestant  truth.     In  very  few 


192 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


cases,  it  is  true,  do  we  see  men  actuated  by  opinions 
really  evangelical ;  but  let  us  not  forget  that  similar 
beginnings  ushered  in  the  Reformation  in  Ger- 
many, and  if  south  of  the  Alps  another  Luther 
should  arise,  who  can  foretell  the  consequences  ? 

Since  reaching  home  I  find  that  other  travellers 
in  Italy,  during  the  past  summer,  observed,  like 
myself,  the  little  interest  apparently  felt  by  the 
population  in  the  holy  festivals ;  few,  in  comparison 
with  the  multitudes  of  former  years,  joined  the 
processions;  the  higher  classes  studiously  absented 
themselves,  the  citizens  gazed  with  indifference, 
many  of  them  not  even  lifting  their  hats  to  the 
host ;  ladies  exchanged  jokes  at  the  expense  of 
burly  fathers,  and  young  men  frowned  on  the  pomp 
as  a  mere  artifice  of  priestcraft.  A  small  band  of 
officers  followed  the  monks  and  singing  boys, 
while  the  soldiers  bent  their  knees  at  the  word  of 
command,  and  thus  the  ceremony  ended ;  the 
sacerdotal  and  military  rulers  retired  to  concert 
new  measures  of  oppression,  the  people  to  meditate 
on  the  connexion  between  political  t}Tanny  and 
the  religion  of  Rome.  "  I  dare  say,"  remarks  a 
periodical  writer,  with  reference  to  this  state  of 


CHURCH   REFORM. 


193 


things,  "  that  a  nation  that  shows  so  little  respect 
for  the  holy  services  of  their  Church,  is  preparing, 
if  not  to  leave,  at  least  to  reform  her." 

It  is  likewise  well  known  to  those  acquainted 
with  the  country,  that  a  considerable  number  of 
the  parish  priests, — men  uninfluenced  by  the  views 
of  the  hierarchy,  sympathise  both  with  national 
emancipation  and  ecclesiastical  change;  the  demand 
for  the  Bible  has  filled  the  rulers,  especially  those 
of  Tuscany,  with  alarm ;  scarcely  a  single  Roman 
does  not  avow  his  leaning  towards  religious 
liberty;  and  in  Sardinia  a  network  of  Protestant 
churches  seems  likely  at  no  distant  period  to  cover 
the  land. 


VOL.  ir. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

NOTES   ON   THE  POLITICAL    INFLUENCE   OF   ROMAN 

CATHOLICISM. 

THE  LATITUDINARIAN  PARTY  IN  ENGLAND — THEIR  ALLIANCE  WITH 
THE  ULTRAMONTANE  ROMAN  CATHOLICS — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN 
THE  AGENTS  OF  THE  PAPACY  IN  BRITAIN  AND  THOSE  ON  THE 
CONTINENT — AGGRESSIONS  OF  THE  POPE  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CEN- 
TURY— EFFECTS  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  EMANCIPATION  ACT — PRO- 
PHETIC WORDS  OF  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL  —  EXAMINATION  OF  THE 
QUESTION  REGARDING  THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  ROMAN  PONTIFF  TO 
APPOINT  BISHOPS,  TO  CONTROL  THE  AFFAIRS  OF  NATIONAL 
CHURCHES,  AND  TO  EXERCISE  TEMPORAL  AUTHORITY  —  REAL 
OBJECT  OF  THOSE  REPRESENTED  BY  CARDINAL  WISEMAN — INFLU- 
ENCE OF  POPERY  ON  MORALS  AND  LEARNING. 

Recent  events  in  the  history  of  our  country  have 
introduced  into  the  arena  of  political  and  eccle- 
siastical discussion  a  party,  small  in  point  of  num- 
bers, but  mfluential  inasmuch  as  they  have  in  their 
])ossession  a  portion  of  the  public  press,  to  whom, 
without  any  breach  of  courtesy,  may  be  applied 
tlie  epithet  latitudinarian.  Under  the  guise  of  mode- 
ration they  hide  a  laxity  of  sentiment,  which  ren- 


LATITUDINARIANISM    IN   ENGLAND. 


195 


ders  them  dangerous  counsellors  in  civil  things, 
and  apt  to  regard  religious  matters  with  a  cold, 
sceptical  indifference;  their  favourite  saying  is. 
Why  attach  so  much  stress  to  doctrinal  varieties? 
let  humanity,  kindliness  of  disposition,  and  com- 
mon sense  be  the  tests  of  character:  all  their 
writings  have  as  a  motto  that  confused  and  ambi- 
guous couplet — 

*'  For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight  ;— 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

Two  very  different  meanings  may  be  gathered 
from  these  lines ;  but  those  who  now-a-days  con- 
tinually quote  them  are  at  no  pains  to  deny  that, 
according  to  their  opinion,  a  man  may  be  a  Chris- 
tian, a  Mahommedan,  or  a  Buddhist,  and  yet  a 
most  respectable  member  of  society.  The  differ- 
ence between  various  sects  wdio  believe  in  the 
Bible,  they  consider  as  of  no  consequence  what- 
ever; the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Protestant — th-a 
Calvinist  and  the  Universalist, — they  look  upon 
with  equally  favourable  eyes ;  their  superficial 
acquaintance  with  religious  matters  leads  them,  in 
tlie  full  assurance  that  oracular  wisdom  alone  pro- 
ceeds from  their  mouths,  to  pronounce  evangcHcal 

i2 


196 


THE   TAGUS   A*ND   THE   TIBER. 


truth  as  a  mere  party  symbol,  ^vithout  significance 
or  reality;  and  all  sorts  of  opinions  in  regard  to 
the  interpretation  of  Scripture  appear  to  them  alike 
influential  to  promote  individual  virtue  and  social 
happiness.  Such  people  by  their  statements  con- 
tradict the  remark  of  Cicero,  that  the  true  religion 
could  be  but  one,  and  that  all  others  must  be  false; 
they  remind  me  of  a  sect  which  arose  in  Alex- 
andria in  the  second  century,  who  called  themselve 
Eclectics,  because  they  adhered  to  no  system  in 
particular,  but  chose  a  code  for  themselves,  recog- 
nising the  Jew,  the  Pagan,  the  Grecian  philosopher 
and  the  Christian,  as  the  same  in  the  sight  of 
Deity.  Loud  in  their  professions  of  candour  and 
moderation,  they  were  the  most  self-sufficient 
theorists  of  the  age;  regardnig  Plato  and  Jesus 
as  virtually  agreed,  they  understood  neither  the 
philosophy  of  the  one,  nor  the  precepts  of  the 
ther;  believing  themselves  free  from  prevalent 
superstitions,  they  added  a  new  kind  of  fanaticism 
to  the  other  corruptions  of  their  time.  Like  them, 
our  modem  latitudinarians  affect  the  greatest  zeal 
for  truth,  while  they  take  every  opportunity  to 
attack  its  supporters ;  they  ask  credit  for  impar- 


LATITUDINARIANISM   IN   ENGLAND. 


197 


tiality,  while  straining  every  nerve,  not  to  expose 
the  errors  of  all  systems,  but  to  hold  evangelical 
principles  up  to  public  reprobation;  they  proclaim 
a  cmsade  against  bigotry  in  general,  but  confine 
their  efforts  solely  to  the  bigotry  of  zealous  Pro- 
testant teachers  ; — liberality  is  their  watchword,  but 
the  Gospel  the  real  object  of  their  dislike.* 

The  description  which  Burke  gives  of  the  school 
which  had  in  his  time  risen  into  notice  at  Paris, 
applies  with  equal  force  to  the  indifferentism  of  the 
present  day.  "  We  hear  these  new  teachers," 
says  he,  "  continually  boasting  of  their  spirit  of 
toleration.  That  those  persons  should  tolerate 
all  opinions  who  think  none  to  be  of  estimation,  is 
a  matter  of  small  merit.  Equal  neglect  is  not  im- 
partial kindness.  The  species  of  benevolence  which 
arises  from  contempt  is  no  true  charity."  f  I  have 
made  these  remarks  on  the  conduct  of  a  party 
whom  every  serious  mind  must  look  upon  as  the 
most  dangerous  enemies  of  Christianity,  as  a  kind 

*  "  The  pillars  of  revelation  are  shaken  by  those  men  who 
preserve  the  name  without  the  substance  of  rehgion,  who  in- 
dulge the  licence  without  the  temper  of  philosophy." — Gibbon's 
"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  chap.  1. 

f  French  Revolution,  p.  213. 


198 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


of  introduction  to  a   brief  notice   of  the  present 
position   occupied   by   that   venerable   system    of 
superstition,  which  seems,  at  least  for  the  moment, 
to  be  the  special  object  of  their  sympathy.     It  is  a 
most  singular  circumstance,  that  the  very  men  who 
arrogate  to  themselves  the  title  of  the  only  real 
advocates  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  should  be 
engaged   heart   and   soul   in   defending  the  most 
grievous  system  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny  which  tlie 
world  has  ever  seen.     What  a  spectacle!      The 
denouncers   of    intolerance    forming   a  league   <^f 
brotherhood  witli  the  legates  of  Rome!     Behold 
the  philosophers  who  devote  their  energies  to  ex- 
posing the  priestly  arts  of  Presbyterian  pastors, 
eloquently  describing  the  virtues  of  the  Jesuits ! 
The  leading  articles  of  certain  organs  of  the  so- 
called  liberal  party,  during  the  late  discussion  on 
the   measure   introduced   by  Lord   John   Russell 
regarding  Papal  Aggression,  were  truly  curiosities 
in  literature,  worthy  of  being  preserved  to  illustrate 
the  inconsistencies  of  the  human  mind.     "This 
faction,"  wrote  Isaac   Taylor,  several  years  ago, 
"  now  actually  spread  their  shield  over  the  enor- 
mities and   follies  of  Romanism;  and  with   sur- 


LATITUDINARIANISM   IN   ENGLAND. 


199 


prising  eagerness  step  in  to  defend  the  good  old 
superstition  against  any  new  assailant.  Thus  the 
very  same  Popery  that  was  furiously  run  upon  by 
the  sceptics  of  the  last  age,  is  as  zealously  be- 
friended by  the  sceptics  of  this."  ..."  The  summer 
season  of  philosophic  impiety  is  just  at  that  time 
when  some  degrading  and  gorgeous  superstition 
overawes  the  vulgar,  decorates  the  frivolous  hypo- 
crisy of  the  opulent,  and  thickly  shades  from  all 
eyes  the  serious  verities  of  religion."  ..."  English 
unbelievers  know  better  than  to  use  any  efforts  for 
demolishing  the  popular  folly;  on  the  contrary, 
they  give  it  the  aid  of  their  talents,  and  the  mock 
homage  of  their  external  reverence."  * 

No  apology  need  be  offered  to  the  reader  for 
here  introducing  this  remarkable  passage;  it  de- 
scribes the  phenomenon,  and  assigns  its  cause.  If 
any  real  adherent  to  Protestantism  continues,  in 
neglect  of  the  warning  here  given,  to  seek  the  al- 
liance of  a  party,  indifferent  to  scriptural  truth, 
and  pledged  to  defend  a  monstrous  system  of  op- 
pression, he  deserves  to  suffer  the  penalties  which, 
sooner    or   later,    Ultramontane  Romanism  hopes 

*  Spiritual  Despotism,  pp.  16, 18. 


200 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


to  inflict  on  its  dupes.  Shunning  the  bugbear  of 
intolerance  amongst  those  of  his  own  creed,  he  will 
assuredly  find  that  none  can  persecute  so  bitterly 
as  the  Jesuit  and  the  infidel. 

One  of  the  most  successful  of  the  artifices,  by 
means  of  which  this  "  Holy  Alliance  "  have  been 
lately  attempting  to  deceive  the  British  public,  is 
to  enlarge  upon  the  intelligence,  worth,  and  zeal  of 
the  Roman  Catholics  in  our  own  land ;  while  they 
keep  in  the  background  the  state  of  those  continental 
countries  where  Popery  preva  Is.  The  Italian  hides 
his  indifference  under  a  mantle  of  ceremony,  the 
Frenchman  trifles  with  the  rites  of  the  Church  as 
with  a  legionary  decoration  or  a  pole  of  liberty ; 
the  earnest  Anglo-Saxon  alone  gives  dignity  even 
to  the  abuses  of  priestcraft.  This  the  agents  of 
Rome  well  know,  and  they  seem  to  have  imparted 
their  knowledge  most  assiduously  to  their  quondam 
allies ;  but  to  judge  of  the  system  from  its  manifest- 
ations in  England  would  lead  us  to  a  most  fallacious 
conclusion ;  we  do  not  want  to  know  the  appear- 
ance  of  Popery  surrounded  by  and  battling  with 
Protestantism,  but  its  appearance  in  countries 
where  its  development  has  not  been  checked  by 


ULTRAMONTANE  ROMANISM. 


201 


counteracting  causes ;  we  want  to  see  it  exposed 
to  open  day,  not  wearing  a  mask,  which  hides 
every  hateful  feature  from  the  inquiring  gaze. 

Those  who  have  been  in  Madrid,  Lisbon,  Munich, 
Naples,  Lima  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  can  testify  how 
different  the  ignorant  licentious  priests  of  these 
cities  are  from  the  English  emissaries  of  Rome. 
The  men  who,  in  London,  profess  extraordinary 
liberality,  who  in  Dublin  welcome  with  open  arms 
a  Protestant  ally,  who  in  Edinburgh  deplore  the 
bigotry  of  Presbyterianism,  are  the  same  men  who 
in  Florence  imprison  readers  of  the  Bible,  who  in 
Rome  deny  Britons  liberty  to  worship,  who  in 
Spain  refuse  Protestants  Christian  burial,  who  in 
Lombardy  prohibit  the  circulation  of  the  word  of 
God,  who  in  Naples  reward  the  supporters  of  re- 
ligious freedom  with  the  rack  or  the  dungeon.  And 
these  are  the  parties  whom  we  Britons  are  inrse- 
cuting  because  we  refuse  to  sanction  the  establish- 
ment of  an  imperium  in  imperio  ;  because  we  seek 
to  protect  the  more  loyal  of  our  Roman  Catholic 
countrymen  from  the  operation  of  an  iniquitous 
canon  law ;  because  we  check  at  the  beginning  the 
aggressions  of  a  power  which  has  already  absolved 

l3 


202 


THE   TAG  US  AND   THE   TIBER. 


subjects  from  their  allegiance,  and  may  do  so  again. 
This  is  not  the  first  encroachment  of  Koman 
tyranny  on  the  liberties  of  England. 

When  swarms  of  Jesuits  an-ived  on  our  shores 
during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  her  officers  demanded 
an  explicit  answer  to  the  question : — ''  Do  you  con- 
sider the  anathema  of  Pius  V.  against  your  Queen 
lawful  and  binding?"  but  no  reply  could  be  ex- 
torted from  these  crafty  men,  more  satisfactory 
than  that  they  wished  to  "  render  unto  Caesar  the 
things  that  were  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things 
that  were  God's;"  this  subterfuge  the  judges  inter- 
preted as  a  confession  of  guilt,  and  they  treated  the 
emissaries  as  rebels,  sent  by  a  haughty  Pontiff  to 
plot  against  the  crown.  Again,  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  William  Allen,  leading  the  Ultramontane 
party  in  England,  solemnly  declared : — "  Si  reges 
Deo  et  Dei  populo  fidem  datam  fregerint,  \4cissim 
populo  non  solum  permittitur,  sed  etiam  ab  eo  pas- 
tore,  ipse  quoque  fidem  datam  tali  principi  non 
servet!"  This  revolutionary  doctrine.  Cardinal 
Bellamiine,  in  a  well-digested  work,*  not  only 
sanctioned,  but  defended  at  great  length ;  at  that 

•  De  Concilionim  Auctoritate. 


POPISH   AGGRESSIONS. 


203 


time  no  one  looked  upon  it  as  unusual;  it  was 
recognised  as  natural  to  Popery,  and  dealt  with 
accordingly.  Fifty  years  later,  Urban  VIII.  de- 
manded that  Roman  Catholic  churches  should  be 
built  at  the  public  expense  in  every  English 
county  ;  *  but  there  were  then  neither  Aberdeens 
nor  Grahams,  so  the  proposal  was  received,  as  it 
ought  to  have  been,  with  indignation  and  contempt. 
W^ere  it  renewed  in  1852,  we  might  see  it  warmly 
applauded  by  a  few  statesmen  coquetting  with  Ire- 
land, and  a  literary  phalanx,  w^ho  wage  bitter  war 
against  evangelical  truth.  These  parties  seem  un- 
able to  distinguish  between  liberality  and  latitudi- 
narianism,  betw^een  giving  men  their  civil  rights 
and  picking  the  pockets  of  others  to  pay  for  their 
ceremonies;  they  would  not  only  bestow  upon 
Roman  Catholics  the  franchise,  but  patronise, 
cherish,  and  pamper  them  by  every  means  in  their 
power.  Against  this  most  fatal  policy,  it  appears 
to  me  that  all  Protestants  and  patriots  should  cor- 
dially unite;  for,  if  persevered  in,  itw^U  assuredly 
subvert  the  liberties  of  our  land. 

Dr.  Chalmers  in  his  later  years,  spoke  of  Catholic 

•  Ranke's  "  History  of  the  Popes,"  vol.  ii.  p.  269. 


204 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


Emancipation  as  a  "  historical  blunder,"  not  tliat 
he  regretted  the  passing  of  that  righteous  measure, 
or  doubted  its  political  justice ;  but  that  he,  in 
common  Avith  many  other  great  and  good  men 
amongst  its  advocates,  felt  that  the  hopes  founded 
on  it  respecting  the  feelings  of  the  Irish  masses,  ^ 
had  not  been  realized.  It  was  to  restore  harmony 
to  our  empire,  to  heal  the  wounds  inflicted  by  party 
strife,  to  destroy  the  influence  of  unprincipled 
agitators,  to  remove  the  cause  of  discontent,  to 
make  Connemara  a  garden  of  roses,  and  Tipperary 
the  abode  of  peace.  How  have  these  expectations 
been  disappointed!  Does  not  history  and  experience 
warn  us,  after  ]X)litical  rights  liave  been  granted,  to 
make  no  covenant  with  Rome?  To  attempt  by 
favours  and  bribery  to  make  loyal  subjects  of  men 
ruled  by  the  Vatican,  is  a  task  too  herculean  even 
for  the  statesmen  of  England.  Far  be  it  from  me 
to  include  in  this  condemnation  of  dupHcity  and 
ingratitude  all  the  Catholics  of  our  country ;  my 
remarks  refer  only  to  the  party  led  in  Ireland  by 
John  of  Tuam,  and  across  the  Channel  by  tlie 
Bishop  of  Melipotamus,  legate  of  the  Holy  See. 
This  faction  must  be  ruled  with  firmness,  not  coaxed 


SIR   ROBERT   PEEL. 


205 


to  behave  ;  watched  as  subjects  of  a  foreign  power, 
not  salaried  as  officers  of  the  British  crown ;  they 
have   got  justice,   now   they   desire   domination ; 
they  sit  in  Parliament,  now  they  wish   to   bend 
cabinets  to  their   ambitious    ends ;  and  if  before 
them  we  Protestants  quail,  we  may  expect  to  see 
the    Privy  Council    of  England   the   catspaw   of 
Austria  and  creature  of  the  Pope. 

It  is  now  more  than  twenty  years  ago  since  Sir 
Robert,   then  Mr.  Peel,  whose  loss  we  so  much 
deplore,    when  introducing  the  Catholic  Emanci- 
pation Bill  into  the  House  of  Commons,  used  these 
remarkable,  almost  prophetic  words  :— ''  1  trust  by 
the  means  now  proposed,  that  the  moral  storm  may 
be  lulled  into  calm,  that  the  waters  of  strife  may 
subside,  and  the  elements  of  discord  be  stilled  and 
composed.  But  if  these  expectations  he  disappointed, 
if,  unhappily,  civil  strife  and  contentions  shall  still 
take  place,  if  the  differences  which  exist  between   us 
do  not  arise  out  of  artificial  distinctions  and  unequal 
privileges,  but  if  there  be  something  in  the  character 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  a  something  not  to 
he  contented  with  a  participation  of  equal  privileges, 
or  anything  short  of  superiority,    still   I   shall  be 


206 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


POWER   OF   THE   POPE. 


207 


content  to  make  the  trial."  The  great  statesman 
seemed  even  then  to  fear  in  the  midst  of  hope,  and 
to  see,  through  the  mists  of  party  warfare,  the 
shadows  of  events  which  were  to  come ;  if  Provi- 
dence had  spared  him  to  witness  the  renewal  of 
the  storm,  we  cannot  doubt  on  which  side  his 
powerful  voice  would  have  been  heard. 

During  the  recent  discussions  in  England  re- 
garding the  papal  bull,  it  has  been  fretiuently 
asserted,  and  as  frequently  denied,  that  tlie  ap- 
pointment of  bishops  and  organization  of  dioceses 
by  the  Pope  were  necessary  for  the  due  government 
of  the  Church ;  that  the  proclamation  decreeing 
them  was  no  foreign  encroachment,  but  an  eccle- 
siastical act,  recognised  as  regular  by  every  tnu' 
son  of  the  Romish  faith. 

Let  us  go  back  to  history,  and  examine  this 
knotty  question  with  care ;  for  upon  the  answer  to 
it  depends  in  some  measure  the  solution  of  the  whole 
matter  at  issue.  If  the  Pope  has  the  sole  right 
of  nominathig  dignitaries  and  managing  Church 
temporalities  throughout  the  Catholic  world,  then 
his  acts,  in  those  respects,  must  be  considered  as 
incidental  to  the  system ;    if  not,  then  it  becomes 


the  duty  of  civil   governments    to    protect    their 
subjects  against  his  attacks,  looking  upon  him  as 
a  foreign  potentate  rather  than  as  an  ecclesiastical 
ruler,  as  the  high-priest  of  despotism  rather  than  as 
the  head  of  the  Church.     Because  the  majority  of 
a  nation  are  Protestant,  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
government  are  not  bound  to  see  that  no  one  inter- 
feres with  the  ecclesiastical  liberties  of  the  Roman 
Catholic   portion   of  the   community;    if  priestly 
influence  persuade  many  of  the  latter  to  give  up 
their  rights,  that  is  no  reason  why  the  remainder 
should  be  compelled  to  conform.     But  if,  on  the 
contrary,   no   aggression  has  been  attempted;    if 
nothing  unusual  or  inconsistent  with  ecclesiastical 
practice  has  been  proclaimed,  it  becomes  a  religious 
question,  interesting  only  to  members  of  a  particular 
Church,  with  which  we  as  citizens  have  nothing 
whatever  to  do.* 

The  careful  student,  who  wishes  to  understand 
the  history  and  extent  of  the  power  of  the  popes, 
will  find  that,  about  the  end  of  the  eighth  century, 

♦  On  this  subject  the  reader  will  find  important  information 
in  Antonio  de  Dominis'  work,  "De  Republica  Christiana ;"  in 
which  he  demonstrates  the  inadmissibility  of  the  Pope's  claim  to 
destroy  the  independence  of  Christian  bishops. 


208 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


there  appeared  a  collection  of  canons,  purporting  to 
be  rescripts  or  decrees  of  the  early  bishops  of  Rome, 
in  which  power  was  given  to  the  Pontiff  to  forbid 
national  councils,  to  appoint,  correct,  and  remove 
bishops,  to  erect  new  sees,  and  to  translate  digni- 
taries from  one  see  to  another  *     These  decretals, 
which  every  one  regarded  as  a  palpable  imposture, 
and    the    Gallican    Church    from    the    beginning 
treated  with  scorn,  were  acted  upon  by  Alexander 
II.,  whom  we  all  know  was  the  mere  tool  of  Hilde- 
brand;  and  Gregory  VII.   boldly   announced    his 
determination  not  to  recognise  national  synods,  by 
citing  all  the  provincial  bishops  to  Rome.f     But 
even  he,  the  great  champion  of  papal  rights,  did 
not  dare  to  claim  the  nomination  of  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries  in  Germany ;  he  referred  the  choice  to 
the  chapters,  and  merely  insisted  upon  his  right  to 
confirm  the  validity  of  the  election,  if 

When,  in  the  twelfth  century,  the  popes  procured 
from  the  emperors  a  renunciation  of  their  rights  of 
investiture,  these  rights  devolved  not  on  the  Roman 


*  Hallam's  "Middle  Ages,"  vol.  i.  p.  524. 

t  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  548. 

t  Ranke's  "History  of  the  Popes,"  vol.  i.  p.  21. 


POWER   OF   THE   POPE. 


209 


see,  but  on  the  chapters  of  cathedral  churches.* 
The  same  compromise  was  then  effected  in  Eng- 
land;  but  in  Spain  t  the  monarch  retained  that 
power  which  his  fellow-sovereigns  had  been  forced 
to  yield  up  to  ecclesiastics.  But  not  long  after- 
wards, first  as  a  favour,  then  as  a  right,  the  pontiffs 
gradually  began  to  fill  up  vacant  benefices  with 
their  own  nominees;  and  in  1266,  Clement  IV. 
published  a  bull,  asserting  it  to  be  the  absolute 
prerogative  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  to  dispose 
of  all  preferments.^: 

Only  thirty  years  previously,  however,  the 
famous  Grosseteste  had  been  elected  to  the  see  of 
Lincoln  by  the  dean  and  chapter,  §  and  from  that 
time  to  his  death  he  ceased  not  to  denounce  the 
ambition  of  Rome.  "  He  would  often  with  indig- 
nation," says  the  historian,  '^  cast  the  papal  bulls 
out  of  his  hands,  and  absolutely  refuse  to  comply 
with  them."  Innocent  peremptorily  ordered  him 
to  admit  an  Italian  to  a  rich  benefice :  Grosseteste 

*  Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  vol.  i.  p.  546. 

t  In  that  country,  Julianus,  now  a  canonized  saint,  freely 
censured  Pope  Benedict  II.  for  interfering  with  the  action  of  the 
national  synods.— See  Schlegel's  Note  to  Mosheim,  Cent.  VII. 

*  Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  vol.  ii.  p.  13. 

§  Milner's  "  Church  HistorjV'  Century  XIII.  chap.  vii. 


210 


THE   TAGUS   x\ND   THE   TIBER. 


POWER  OF  THE  POPE. 


211 


firmly  refused  to  obey,  and  was  suspended ;  but  tlie 
suspension  was  not  recognised  as  lawful,  and  he 
continued  to  perform  every  function  of  his  office  in 
defiance  of  the  papal  mandates. 

In  the  year  1281  a  council  was  held  in  Lambeth, 
to  regidate  the  affairs  of  the  Church ;  and  so  far 
from  looking  upon  as  necessary  those  acts  which 
in  1851  some  people  tell  us  have  from  time  imme- 
morial been  regarded  as  undoubtedly  belonging  to 
the  Holy  See,  the  ecclesiastics  there  assembled 
gave  the  cup  to  the  laity,  and  introduced  other 
reforms  without  any  sanction  from  Rome.  Early 
in  the  next  century  Edward  III.  secured  the  rights 
of  patrons  of  livings  against  papal  usuq^ation,  and 
outlawed  those  w^ho  dared  to  appeal  to  Rome.* 

In  1414  w^as  held  the  celebrated  Council  of  Con- 
stance, which  declared  the  Pope  subject  to  councils, 
thereby  establishing  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican 
Church,  and  setting  bounds  to  the  claims  of  the 
pontiffs.f  Martin  V.,  in  1448,  restored  episcopal 
elections  to  the  chapters;  and  Charles  VII.  of 
France  soon  afterwards,  by  the  Pragmatic  Sanction 
of  Bourges — the   Magna   Charta  of    the    French 

*  Milner'a  "  Church  History,"  Century  XIV.  chap.  i. 
t  Hallam's  "Middle  Ages,"  vol.  ii.  p. 43. 


Church— deprived  the  Holy  See  of  its  usurped 
privileges.*  Under  Leo  X.  several  princes  of 
Germany  obtained  a  restitution  of  the  rights  of 
investiture  ;t  and  with  him  Francis  I.  concluded  a 
concordat,  "  wherein,"  says  the  historian,  "  the 
principle  for  which  Gregory  VII.  had  moved  the 
whole  world  was  with  little  difficulty  resigned." 

When  we  come  down  to  later  times,  we  find  still 
constant  protests  against  the  usurpations  of  Rome. 
On  the  17th  of  April,  1606,  Paul  V.  pronounced 
sentence  of  excommunication  on  the  doge,  senate, 
and  government   of  Venice,  and   interdicted   the 
clergy  of  the  territory  from  performing  their  sacred 
duties,  under  pain  of  rigorous  punishments  from 
God  and  man.     The  offence  had  been  a  resistance 
of  claims  founded  on  the  very  decretals  mentioned 
at  the  beginning  of  this  statement ;  but  instead  of 
overa^\dng   the   republicans,    this   strong   measure 
caused  a  schism  in  the  Church.     The  Pope  w^as 
amazed,  and  at  length  compelled  to  w^thdraw^  his 
awful  edict.  \ 

Fifty  years  afterwards,  the  estates  of  the  German 

•  Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  51,  52. 
t  Ranke's  "Popes,"  vol.  i.  p.  29. 

*  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  pp.110, 130. 


f 


212 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


CLAIMS   OF   THE   POPE. 


213 


empire  remonstrated  against  Roman  interference ' 
with  ecclesiastical  elections;*  and  in  1682,  the 
Gallican  bishops  passed  three  most  important  reso- 
lutions, the  first  excluding  Komc  from  interfering 
with  the  temporal  concerns  of  kings,  the  second 
acknowledging  a  general  council  to  be  superior  to 
the  pope,  the  third  asserting  the  rights  of  the 
national  Church,  the  fourth  denying  the  infalli- 
bility of  papal  decisions,  unless  confirmed  by  a 
counciLf 

Thus  we  see  that  what  certain  parties  now  de- 
clare essential  to  the  due  government  of  the 
Romish  Church  has  been  regarded  in  ail  ages  and 
in  all  countries  as  an  encroachment  of  the  Papal 
See  on  national  liberties  ;  that  general  councils 
have  declared  it  an  innovation  ;  and  that  against  it 
France,  England,  \  and  Germany  have  not  ceased 
to  protest  and  complain.  Sometimes  the  pontiff 
contrived  to  exercise  the  disputed  power;  but  it 
never  remained  long  in  his  hands,  and  more  than 
once  he  has  been  obliged  to  renounce  his  right  to 

•  Ranke's  "Popes,"  vol.  ii.  p.  412. 
t  MUner'a  "  Church  History,"  Century  XVII.  chap.  ii. 
X  On  the  practice  of  the  Catholic  Church  in   England,  see 
Murdock's  Notes  on  Mosheim,  Century  II.  parti,  chap.  1. 


I 


possess   it.     This    power  Pius   IX.  now   claims, 
through   Cardinal   Wiseman,   supported    by    the 
majority   of  the   Irish    dignitaries.     A  few   bold 
English   Catholics   are   yet   found   to   renew   the 
protests  of  Grosseteste  against  Papal  usurpation ; 
but  when  we  attempt  to  protect  their  rights  and 
money,    a    small    political    party,    and    a    more 
numerous  latitudinarian   faction,  step  forward   to 
accuse  us  of  breaking  the  great  principles  of  re- 
ligious liberty.     The  Pope,  the  Puseyites,  and  the 
sceptical  press,  unite  to  defend  ecclesiastical  free- 
dom, to  fight  the  battles  of    Hildebrand  in  the 
Parliament   of   England.     What   a  strange   con- 
federacy!      Could   Gregory  YII.    arise   from  his 
tomb,  what  would  he  think  of  his  new  associates  ? 
But  the  heart  of  the  British  people  is  yet  sound, 
and  every  unbiassed  observer  of  past  events  knows 
well  that  the  bull  brought  by  Cardinal  Wiseman 
was  a  political,  not  a  religious  measure,  the  act  of 
an  Austrian  camarilla,  not   of  the   head   of  the 

Church. 

The  great  object  of  the  continental  despots, 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  is  to  create  dissension 
in  England,  and    thereby  to   weaken   England's 


214 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


power,  to  provide  difficulties  for  her  statesmen  in 
Ireland,  in  order  to  prevent  them  attending  to  the 
affairs  of  countries  robbed  by  priestcraft  and  com- 
manded by  cannon.  The  combination  appears  at 
present  strong ;  but  defeat  infallibly  awaits  it,  for 
energies  too  powerful  now  oppose  the  ambition  of  a 
hierarchy ;  the  strongest  sympathies  of  the  human 
soul  rise  against  its  domination  ;  and  those  who 
knew  the  Eome  of  the  Gregories  will  pity  the  puny 
efforts  of  Pio  Xono,  kept  prisoner  on  his  pontifical 
tlirone  by  the  bayonets  of  France. 

It  is  consoling  for  us  to  know,  that  amongst  our 
Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects  there  are  men  like 
the  nobles  of  Bohemia,  who,  though  opponents 
of  John  Huss,  joined  the  banner  of  a  national 
army,  raised  to  oppose  the  forces  sent  by  the  Pope 
to  destroy  the  Reformers.  By  adopting  firm 
measures,  we  shall  no  doubt  have,  at  least  for 
a  time,  to  expect  a  determined  opposition  on  behalf 
of  the  Irish  Catholics  ;  but  as  the  Glover  said, 
in  the  "Fair  Maid  of  Perth,"*  "  Never  was  there  an 
extremity  so  pinching,  but  what  a  wise  man  might 
find  counsel,  if  he  was  daring  enough  to  act  upon 

•  Vol.ii.  p.  152. 


HIS   CLAIMS  TO   BE   RESISTED. 


215 


it.  This  has  never  been  the  land  or  the  people 
over  whom  priests  could  rule  in  the  name  of  Rome, 
without  their  usurpation  being  controlled." 

It  will  be  readily  admitted,  that  the  people  of 
this  country  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  purely 
ecclesiastical  affairs  pertaining  to  the  government 
of   the   Roman   Catholic   Church ;    at    the   same 
time  the    careful     student    of     history   will    not 
fail   to  observe,   that   there    are    matters    in   re- 
lation   to    the    policy  of  that   system,  which   so 
momentously   affect    the   best    interests   of    civil 
society,  that  no  wise  legislature  should  overlook 
them.     Even   the   excesses  of  other    sects    may 
occasionally    require    state    interference ;    if    the 
practices  of  fanatical  Mormons  were  in  Britain,  as 
in  America,  to  outrage  the  customs  of  the  nation, 
and  violate  universally  acknowledged  moral  laws, 
the  magistrate  would  be   called  upon  to  suppress 
them  ;  much  more,  then,  must  we  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  political  projects  of  a  Church  which 
has  excommunicated  kings,  absolved  subjects  from 
their     allegiance,    sanctioned     the     Institutes    of 
Ignatius  Loyola,  and  openly  avowed  itself   pos- 
sessed of  temporal  authority. 


! 


216 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


In  all  ages  there  have  been  two  distinct  parties 
in  the  society  which  acknowledges  the  Roman 
Pontiff  as  its  spiritual  head, — a  national  party, 
believing  the  doctrines  but  resisting  the  aggressions 
of  the  Papacy, — an  Ultramontane  party,  thirsting 
for  boundless  power,  and  making  little  or  no  differ- 
ence between  ecclesiastical  and  civil  things :  the 
former,  however  dangerous,  even  politically,  not 
to  say  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  their  doctrines 
may  be,  have  always  conducted  themselves  as  good 
citizens  ;  the  latter  must  be  watched  as  foreign 
spies,  who  may  have  a  dispensation  to  depart 
from  truth,  and,  while  apparently  the  most  zealous 
friends  of  order,  to  attempt  the  subversion  of  a 
nation's  liberties. 

It  is  likewise  very  necessary  in  this  liberal  age 
to  keep  our  eyes  open  to  the  effects  which  Popery 
has,  in  nearly  every  instance,  produced  abroad : 
as  patriots  we  have  a  right,  not  only  to  study, 
but  to  legislate  with  reference  to  them,  though 
debarred  from  any  interference  in  ecclesiastical 
matters.  If  we  observe  that  immorality  and  crime 
have  ever  kept  pace  with  the  advances  of  a  re- 
ligious system  ;  if  we  see  the  population  of  those 


INFLUENCE   OF   POPERY. 


217 


countries,  where  its  influence  is  predominant  and 
its  rites  most  rigorously  observed,  more  debauched 
and  polluted  than  their  neighbours,  surely  guided 
by  an  instinct  of  self-preservation,  we  cannot  be 
found    fault    with     for     adopting    precautionary 
measures.      However    modified   to   suit    different 
states  of  society,  or  diverse  mental  constitutions, 
there  are  some  of  the  Roman  Catholic   doctrines 
which,  per  se,  must  be  deemed  inconsistent  with 
freedom  of  conscience  and  rational  liberty.     Their 
effect   on   learning  and  the    arts  need   not  for   a 
moment   be   doubted;    a  vast   majority  of   great 
scholars,   profound    mathematicians,    acute   meta- 
physicians, and  clever  mechanists,  have  been  found 
in  the  ranks  of  Protestantism ;  and  what  is  more 
striking   still,  few,   if    any,    among   the    Roman 
Catholic  literati  of  the  last  two  or  three  centuries, 
have   really  believed    the    doctrines   which   they 
professed.     To    borrow    the    expressions    of    an 
annalist,*  himself  devoted  to  the  Papacy,  the  tenth 
century,  when   Popery  had    reached   its    zenith, 
"  was  an  iron- age,  barren  of  all  goodness  ;  a  leaden 

*  Baronius. 
VOL.  II.  K 


218 


THE  TAGUS  AND   THE  TIBEK. 


EFFECTS   OF   POPERY. 


219 


age,  abounding    in    all  wickedness;  and  a   dark 
age,  remarkable  above  all  others  for  the  scarcity 
of  writers   and  men  of  learning."     In   fact,   the 
influence  of  Roman  Catholicism  has  been  sensibly 
declining  ever  since  the  revival  of  letters  in  Europe : 
and  though  the  system  may  change  its  hues  like 
the  chameleon  to  meet  new  emergencies,  every  such 
alteration  betrays  weakness  and  a  departure  from 
fundamental  laws.     If  the  Papacy  is  to  recover  its 
lost  vigour,  we  must  bid  farewell  to  political  liberty, 
to  the  cheap  printing-press,  to  the   steam-engine, 
the  telegi-aph,  and  power-loom ;    we  must  ignore 
all  modem    inventions,  and   return    contented  to 
mediaeval  night. 

Having  already,  while  treating  of  Spain, 
adverted  to  the  remarkable  difference  between 
Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  countries,  I  need 
not  again  invite  the  reader's  attention  to  this  most 
instructive  subject;*  but  conclude  these  remarks 
on  the  effects  of  Popery,  by  quoting  the  eloquent 
words  of  Mr.  :Macaulay,  in  his  review  of  Ranke's 
History  of  the  Popes  :  *'  The  experie*ice  of  twelve 

•  See  Macaulay'H  "  History  of  England,"  vol.  i.  p.  49. 


hundred  eventful  years,  the  ingenuity  and  patient 
care  of  forty  generations  of  statesmen,  have  im- 
proved that  polity  to  such  perfection,  that  amongst 
the  contrivances  which  have  been  devised  for 
deceiving  and  oppressing  mankind  it  occupies  the 
highest  place." 


K  2 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NOTES   ON   THE   POLITICAL     INFLUENCE   OF   ROMAN 

CATHOLICISM — (continuea), 

PROFESSED  LIBERALITY  OF  PAPAL  AGENTS — BEARINGS  OF  THEIR 
LEADING  DOCTRINES  ON  CIVIL  SOCIETY — THE  CRUSADES — ASCE- 
TICISM — MARIOLATRY — PILGRIMAGES  —  PRETENDED  MIRACLES — 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  HISTORY  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  AURICULAR 
CONFESSION  —  SOME  EFFECTS  PRODUCED  BY  THE  CELIBACY  OF 
THE  CLERGY  —  MONASTERIES  AND  CONVENTS  IN  ENGLAND — 
"  PERSECUTION  A  NECESSARY  ELEMENT  OF  THE  ROMISH  CHURCH 
theory" — THE  INQUISITION— THE  CONFLICTS  IN  FRANCE — THE 
HUGUONOTS — CLOSING   REMARKS, 

It  has  become  fashionable  of  late  in  certain  circles, 
to  talk  of  Roman  Catholicism  as  changed,  and  to 
laugh  at  the  fears  of  those  who  think,  that,  how- 
ever it  may  have  adapted  itself  to  altered  circum- 
stances, the  system  has  undergone  no  real  improve- 
ment since  Hildebrand  issued  his  mandates,  and 
Ignatius  filled  the   dungeons   of  the  Inquisition. 


PROFESSIONS  OF   LIBERALITY. 


221 


The  Latitudinarian  party  tell  us  that  we  Protes- 
tants are  much  more  bigoted  than  the  Romanists, 
who  in  England  appear  under  the  guise  of  extra- 
ordinary liberality  ;  but  let  us  raise  the  mask,  and 
attentively  consider  the  lessons  of  history,  and  we 
shall  find  that  Popery  has  in  all  ages  set  up  an 
Acesian  ladder,  by  which  its  own  adherents,  and 
they  alone,  should  ascend  to  heaven.  To  argue 
this  point  is  really  wasting  words ;  every  schoolboy 
knows  that  exclusiveness  has  characterised,  and 
must  characterise,  the  Papacy  wherever  found;  and 
as  if  to  throw  ridicule  on  the  statements  of  the 
Holy  Alliance,  Pio  Nono  declared  in  his  Ency- 
clical Letter,  published  in  1848,  "  Unionem  cum 
catholica  ecclesia,  extra  quam  nulla  est  salus." 

It  will  be  profitable  here  briefly  to  consider  some 
of  those  matters  connected  with  Roman  Catholicism 
which  have  an  evident  bearing  on  civil  society,  and 
therefore  are  legitimate  subjects  for  legislative 
enactment.  The  doctrine  of  justification  by  works 
and  the  belief  in  miracles,  both  inherent  in  Popery, 
have  produced  various  kinds  of  striking  fanaticism, 
and  these  epidemical  phrensies  have  done  infinite 
injury  to  the  finest  countries  in  Europe.     I  need 


222 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBEK. 


not  in  illustration  of  this  statement  refer  to  tlie 
Crnsades,  or  attempt  to  describe  the  cruelty,  licen- 
tiousness, and  ignorance  of  those  soldiers  who  waged 
war  for  the  Holy   Sepulchre  with  the   Saracens, 
wliose  rapine  became  so  fearful,  that  even  Christians 
tied  in  terror  before  them ;  *  nor  would  it  be  de- 
sirable at  any  length  to  examine   the  history  of 
that  asceticism  which  tilled  with  half-savage  men 
tlie  Syrian  and  Libyan  deserts.     The  incidents  of 
the  former  are  familiar  to  us  as  houseliold  words  : 
and   most    men   of   education    will    recollect    tiie 
account  which  has  been  handed  down  of  the  naked 
hermits  or  ^6(tkoi,  who  gi'azed  like  cattle  on  the 
tieldsof  Mesopotamia,  and  dwelt  with  wild  animals 
in  the  caves  of  Thebais ;  nor  will  Simeon  Stylites 
be   forgotten,   the   young  Syrian  who  resisted  the 
heat  of  thirty  summers  on  the  top  of  a  column  apart 
from  the  habitations  of  men.  Even  those  who  read 
only  novels  know  something  of  this  strange  species 
of  enthusiasm,  for  never  was  ascetic  described  in 
language  so  magnificent  as  that  used  by  Sir  Walter 
Scott  in  the  ''  Talisman."     "  I  am  Theodorick  of 

•   See -Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of   the  Roman  Empire,' 
vol.  vii.  p.  355. 


ASCETICISM. 


223 


\ 


Engaddi ;  I  am  the  torch-brand  of  the  desert ;  I 
am  the  flail  of  the  infidels!  The  lion  and  the 
leopard  shall  be  my  comrades,  and  draw  nigh  to 
my  cell  for  shelter ;  neither  shall  the  goat  be  afraid 
of  their  fangs :  1  am  the  torch  and  the  lantern. 
Kyrie  Eleison."  * 

Let  the  story  of  Jesuitism  be  traced  from  its 
rudiments  to  the  present  time ;  from  Loyola,  on  the 
steps  of  the  Church  of  St.  Dominic  beholding  the 
Trinity  in  Unity,  to  his  disciples,  propagating  by 
means  altogether   unworthy  the  creed  of  Catho- 
licism to  the  ends  of  the  earth.    But  for  examples  of 
fanaticism,  we  do  not  require  to  search  the  records 
of  mediaeval  times ;  in   the  nineteenth  century  it 
still  prevails  under  the  wings  of  the  Papacy.     Mr. 
Curzon,  in  his  delightful  work,*  tells  us,  that  "  at 
the  exhibition  of  the  sacred  fire  in  the  church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jemsalem,  the  dead  were 
lying  in  heaps,  even  upon  the  stone  of  unction;  and 
that  he  saw  four  hundred  wretched  people,  dead  and 
living,  heaped  promiscuously  one  upon  another,  in 
some  places  above  five  feet  high." 

*  Talisman,  p.  58. 

t  Visit  to  the  Monasteries  of  the  Levant,  p.  205. 


224 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


In  how  many  countries,  likewise,  has  the  religion 
of  Jesus  degenerated  into  a  mere  enthusiastic  adora- 
tion of  the  Virgin  Mary !     This  kind  of  worship 
has  been  patronised  of  late  to  a  greater  extent  than 
ever  by  the  priests  of  Italy ;  and  the  stranger  who 
visits  Milan,  will  find  in  one  of  the  churches  there 
an  altar-piece,  representing  two  ladders  reaching 
from  earth  to  heaven,  with  Christ  at  the  top  of  one, 
and  Mary  at  the  head  of  the  other :  by  the  former, 
no  one  succeeds  in  ascending ;  by  the  latter,  all  are 
joyfully  climbing  to  Paradise.     No  wonder  that 
Nestorius  protested  against  the  title  of  ^Mother  of 
God,  and  that  when  the  Portuguese  presented  the 
image  of  the  Virgin  to  the  disciples  of  St.  Thomas 
in  India,  they  indignantly  exclaimed,   "  We  are 
Christians,  not  idolaters."  *   Mariolatry  is  a  species 
of  fanaticism,  subversive  of  true  religion,  and  most 
inimical  to  the  progress  of  society;  and  it,  as  well 
as  the  other  evils  just  mentioned,  must  be  closely 
watched  by  an  enlightened  government.     There  is 
one  practice  encouraged,  and  even  commanded  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  productive  of  so  much 

*  See   Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire," 
vol.  vi  p.  72. 


RELIGIOUS  PILGRIMAGES 


225 


I 


misery  and  suffering,  that  no  Protestant  countiy 
could  tolerate  it.     It  may  be  doubted  if  any  super- 
stition prevalent  amongst  the  heathen  has  caused 
such  destruction  of  human  life  as  the  pilgrimages 
of  peaceable  nations.     Some  writers  calculate  that 
more  people  have  fallen  victims  to  this  delusion  on     ' 
their  journeys  to  Benares,  Mecca  and  Loretto,  than 
have  been  killed  by  the  sword  and  famine  during 
the   wars  of  1,800  years.     Religious  pilgrimages 
have  in  all  ages  proved  the  most  fatal;  no  path 
shows  so  many  graves  as  that  which  leads  to  a  holy 
sepulchre.     Those  who  follow  it  do  not  take  pre- 
cautions, they  provide  not  means  to  ensure  their 
safety ;  but,  impelled  by  a  phrensy  which  sees  no 
dangers,  they  rush  with  headlong  enthusiasm  into 
the  very  jaws  of  death.     And  then  what  manifold 
evils  of  another  kind  have  attended  these  journeys! 
Their   history  reveals  crimes  of  the  deepest  dye, 
the  most  unblushing  licentiousness,  the  very  per- 
fection of  rapine  and  cruelty.     Wliile  Christianity 
scatters  mankind  over  the  world,  to  enjoy  in  all 
places  the  presence  of  God,    superstition  attracts 
towards  some  desert  spot  a  crowd  of  ignorant  im- 
moral men,  who  spread  desolation  around   their 

k3 


22G 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


path,  and  leave  their  bones  to  whiten  by  an  an- 
choret's tomb.  The  Turks  have  a  maxim,  which 
carries  with  it  "  the  sting  of  truth : "  '*  If  your 
friend  has  made  the  pilgrimage  once,  distrust  him  ; 
if  he  has  made  the  pilgrimage  twice,  cut  him 
dead."*  This  then  appears  to  me  a  fit  subject  for 
legislation,  though  connected  with  the  doctrines  of 
a  particular  church. 

It  is  strange  that  men  of  education  should  see 
anything  to  admire  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  Pa- 
pacy ;  they  have  always  struck  me  as  most  humi- 
liating to  rational  beings;  audit  need  scarcely  form 
a  matter  of  surprise,  that  a  people  accustomed  to 
reverence  them  should   be  left  far  behind  in  the 
march  of  civilization.     Even  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries,  the  rites  of  Christianity    had  been    so 
much  altered,  that  had  Tertullian  beheld  the  in- 
cense, the  flowers,  the  waxen  tapers,  the  images, 
and  fictitious  relics,  he  would  not  have  recognised 
the  religion  which  he  preached  with  so  much  power 
in  the  public  places  of  Carthage.     When,  too,  we 
read  of  emperors  presenting  to  emperors  portions  of 
the  true  cross,  the  baby-linen  of  the  Son  of  God, 

•  See"Eothen,"  p.  166. 


AURICULAR   CONFESSION. 


227 


the  lance,  the  sponge,  and  the  chain  of  his  passion, 
the  rod  of  Moses,  and  part  of  the  skull  of  John  the 
Baptist,*  we  scarcely  know  whether  the  authors  of 
the  imposture  most  deserve  punishment,  or  their 
victims  pity. 

"  If  the  Christian  Apostles,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
could,"  says  Gibbon,  "  return  to  the  Vatican,  they 
might  possibly  inquire  the  name  of  the  Deity  who 
is  worshipped  with  such  mysterious  rites  in  that 
magnificent  temple."  Some  minds  are  so  consti- 
tuted that  no  superstition  appears  to  them  too 
absurd  or  incredible  ;  such  people  may  be  conscien- 
tious believers  in  priestly  fabrications,  and  yet 
loyal  subjects  ;  but  it  will  become  a  well-ordered 
state  closely  to  watch  the  crafty  deceivers  :  men 
who  depart  from  truth  in  religion  will  not  hesitate 
also  to  be  unscrupulous  in  politics. 

There  are  two  practices  distinguishing  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  which,  in  my  opinion,  of 
themselves  justify  interference  on  the  part  of  Go- 
vernment,— not  to  prevent  their  adoption,  but  to 
restrain  their  excesses  ;  viz.  aimcular  confession, 
and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy.     These  may  be 

•  Gibbon's  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  vol.  vii 
p.  534. 


228 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE  TIBER. 


AURICULAR  CONFESSION. 


229 


ecclesiastical  ordinances,  but  they  are  also  political 
engines  ;  the  Pope  may  decree  their  establishment, 
but  the  magistrate  must  control  them.     In  popish 
countries  they  produce  unmixed    and  unchecked 
evils.      If  we  cannot,   consistently  with  religious 
liberty,   destroy  the  corrupting  influence,  we  can 
and  ought  to  punish  those  who,  for  wicked  ends, 
exercise  their  ghostly  power.     The  priest  who  at 
the  confessional  advises  an  Irishman  to  shoot  the 
bailiff,  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  mmderer, 
and  ought,  without  mercy,  to  suffer  the  penalty  of 
his  crimes.     If  some  of  those  who  from  the  altar 
denounced  particular  individuals  had  been  sum- 
marily led  to  punishment,  we  should  have  seen  life 
and  property  safer  in  counties  whose  state  reflects 
the   deepest   disgrace   on   men     professing   to   be 
Christians.* 

To  trace  the  history  and  effects  of  auricular 
confession  would  be  an  interesting  though  painful 
task  ;t  we  first  hear  of  it  in  Upper  Egypt,  from 
whence  the  Greeks  introduced  it  as  a  condition  of 
admission    into    the    mysteries   of  Eleusis.      The 

•   See  Major  Edwardes'  "Year   on  the   Puujaub  Frontier," 
■vol.  i.  p.  247,  for  an  eloquent  passage  on  this  subject. 
t  See  Count  de  Laateyrie's  "  History  of  Auricular  Confession." 


Talmud  enjoins  it ;  the  Siamese  practised  it  before 
the  introduction  of  Christianity;  the  Buddhists 
regard  it  as  a  sacred  institution  ;  Zoroaster  ha- 
rangued his  disciples  in  its  defence  ;  and  when 
Pizarro  crossed  the  Andes,  he  found  it  among  the 
Indians  of  Peru.  From  these  heathen  nations  the 
first  corrupters  of  Divine  truth  learned  it ;  and  it 
has  since  become  an  ordinance  of  the  Eastern  as 
well  as  the  Western  Church.  The  Greeks,  however, 
forbid  the  priests  to  question  the  penitent;  and 
the  latter  is  not  bound  to  reveal  everything,  but 
merely  such  offences  as  require  ministerial  advice. 

Bishop  Fenelon  tells  us  that  he  sought  diligently 
throughout  the  biography  of  the  orthodox  fathers, 
examined  the  minutest  details  of  their  lives  and 
religious  practices,  and  found  not  one  single  word 
about  this  practice ;  many  historians  have  done  the 
same,  and  with  like  success  ;  we  may  therefore 
conclude  that  it  funned  no  part  of  Christianity  in 
the  primitive  ages,  but  was  a  corruption  derived 
by  crafty  men  from  a  heathen  source. 

It  is  related  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  that  when  he 
retreated  from  the  theatre  of  public  affairs  to  enjoy 
the  quiet  of  a  Franciscan  monk,  he  found  himself 


230 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


AURICULAR  CONFESSION. 


231 


absorbed  in  a  vortex  of  worldly  passions  and 
interests,  because  obliged  to  listen  to  the  confes- 
sions of  the  multitudes  whom  his  fame  attracted  to 
the  monastery.*  This  is  but  a  small  part  of  the 
evil  caused  by  the  narration  of  various  sins  to  the 
priestly  adviser.  The  penitent  may  be  in  no 
respect  improved  by  the  unblushing  recital  of  dis- 
honourable faults ;  but  what  must  be  the  effect  on 
the  mind  of  the  confessor,  the  receptacle  of  all  the 
licentious  tales  which  erring  men  and  women  have 
to  tell  him  ? 

The  Church  enjoins  not  only  a  GENERAL  account 
of  every  sin,  but  a  detailed  and  circumstantial 
narration  of  it  in  all  its  particulars.  '*  Colligitur 
pra3terea,''  says  the  Council  of  Trent,  "etiam  eas 
circumstantias  in  confessione  explicandas  esse,  qua? 
speciem  peccati  mutant."  It  is  frightful  to  con- 
template the  impurity  wliich  day  by  day  passes 
through  the  minds  of  Romish  priests ;  and  after 
reading  the  disclosures  made  by  some  of  them  in 
books  revealing  the  secrets  of  the  confessional,  we 
can    scarcely  wonder   at   the    general    immorality 

♦  See  Preacott'a  "  Hiatory  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,"  vol.  ii. 
p.  349. 


where  Popery  exercises  a  predominant  influence. 
Placed  in  a  position  which  Providence  never  de- 
signed that  men  should  occupy,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  priests  of  the  Romish  faith  should  in  many 
countries  have  thrown  off  all  restraints  of  discipline 
and  moral  law. 

Those  conversant  with  the  history  of  tlie  Reforma- 
tion will  remember  a  little  book  written  by  Luther 
in  the  castle  of  Wartburg,  concerning  the  abuses 
of  private  confessions,  wherein  he  gi-aphically  de- 
scribes the  sinful  practices  of  the  monks— insinu- 
ating^ themselves  into  the  houses  of  the  opulent,  to 
gain   an  influence  over  their  minds;   threatening 
them,  on  their  death-beds,  with  the  direst  penalties, 
if  they  did    not   give    the   Church   a    prominent 
position  in  their  wills  ;  and  destroying  the  peace  of 
families  by   corrupting  the  minds   of  the  yoimg. 
How   many   estates    in   Christendom   have    been 
wrested  from  the  rightful  heirs  by  means  of  monk- 
ish   absolutions   Ik   arttcuJo  mortis!     How  seared 
must  have  been  the  consciences  of  those  ecclesi- 
astics who  in  the  Council  of  the  Lateran  sanctioned 

this  crying  evil ! 

When  we  tuni  from  the  seductions  and  robberies 


/ 


232 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


CELIBACY   OF   THE   CLERGY. 


233 


resulting  from  auricular  confession,  to  its  political 
effects,*  we  can  well  understand  the  remark  of 
Voltaire,  that  priestly  advisers  have  been  the 
source  of  most  of  the  violent  measures  pursued  by 
princes  of  the  Catholic  faith.  Instances  of  this 
will  readily  occur  to  the  minds  of  all  conversant 
with  European  history.  In  the  course  of  several 
journeys  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  I  have  met 
zealous  Roman  Catholics  who  regarded  this  insti- 
tution with  such  horror,  that  they  had  absolutely 
prohibited  their  wives  and  daughters  from  sanction- 
ing it  by  their  presence :  and  no  wonder,  for  at 
this  veiy  moment  there  live  in  Italy  women  who, 
under  priestly  direction,  denounced  their  husbands 
to  the  Holy  Office  ;  and,  to  gratify  monkish  pas- 
sions, sacrificed  the  dearest  sympathies  of  life. 

In  the  annals  of  heathen  idolatry  there  are  no 
crimes  more  horrible  than  those  which  may,  without 
difficulty,  be  traced  in  a  direct  line  to  the  hateful 
practice  of  auricular  confession.  It  makes  hypo- 
crites and  profligates  of  religious  teachers,  gives 

♦  When  the  premises  of  the  Inquisition  were  broken  open  in 
Rome  in  1848,  documents  were  found  showing  that  Government 
had  systematically  made  use  of  sacramental  confession  as  a 
political  engine. 


one  class  an  undue  influence  over  society,  sows 
dissension  in  families,  corrupts  pure  minds,  diverts 
inheritances  from  the  natural  channel,  encourages 
intrigue,  and  paves  the  way  for  the  political  priest 
to  propagate  revolutionary  principles.  The  law 
cannot  prevent  its  secret  practice,  but  it  can  visit 
upon  those  who  have  been  convicted  of  applying  it 
to  improper' purposes  the  severest  penalties  on  the 
statute-book.  A  few  such  instances  of  well-merited 
punishment  would,  more  effectually  than  bribes  and 
royal  gifts,  check  the  usurpations  of  Rome. 

The  grievous  effects  produced  by  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy  show  themselves  less  frequently  in 
civil  affairs  ;  yet  they  deserve  a  brief  consideration 
here.  This  ordinance  was  established  by  the 
Council  of  Placentia  in  1095,*  but  in  all  ages 
Roman  Catholics  have  been  found  to  condemn  it ; 
and  even  Pius  II.  before  he  became  Pope  pleaded 
earnestly  for  its  reversal,  f  "  Certainly,"  remarks 
Lord  Bacon,  "  a  wife  and  children  are  a  kind  of 
discipline  to  humanity."  There  is  much  truth 
in  this  saying.     Every  one  has  observed  the  more 

•  Milner's  "  Church  History,"  Century  XI.  chap.  i. 
t  Mosheim's  "  Church  History,"  Century  X. 


234 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


obvious  evils  connected  with  the  celibacy  of  the 
priesthood,  the  profligacy,  licentiousness,  and 
infidelity  which  it  has  caused  ;  but  a  more  atten- 
tive examination  of  mental  history  will  show  us 
disadvantages  of  another  kind.  Shut  out  from  the 
happier  influences  to  which  laymen  are  accessible, 
the  priest  becomes  an  unnatural  being  ;  he  indulges 
excited  feelings,  opinions*  not  fomided  on  fact, 
but  formed  by  a  morbid  brain  ;  fanaticism  gradu- 
ally acquires  dominion  over  him,  and  he,  perhaps 
a  humane  man  before  his  initiation,  wields  with 
no  light  hand  the  sword  of  persecution.  No  wife 
generates  feelings  of  tenderness  in  his  mind,  no 
children  relieve  the  ruggedness  of  life ;  he  mopes 
in  solitude,  a  gloomy  ascetic — rushes  into  dissi- 
pation, to  supply  a  want  which  nature  dictates — or 
presides  in  the  Inquisition,  to  gratify  a  fanatical 
excitement,  the  disease  of  minds  uninfluenced  by 
means  which  God  has  appointed  for  the  due 
government  of  man. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  in  connexion  with 
the  lunatic  asylums  of  Italy,  that  there  are  more 
insane  priests  there  confined  than  madmen  of  any 
other  profession ;  and  if  you  go  into  the  country, 


CELIBACY   OF  THE  CLERGY. 


235 


you  will  find  a  great  number  of  cures,  who,  though 
not  maniacs,  manifest  a  premature  dotage,  if  not 
more  evident  symptoms  of  idiotcy.* 

On  this  subject  likewise  we  have  the  testimony 
of  Luther.     In  his  address  to  the  princes  of  Ger- 
many, respecting  the  imperial  edict  of  1523,  he 
thus  expresses  himself:  "I  must  entreat  you  to 
mitigate  in  some   respects  the   severity  of    your 
decree     against     the    marriage    of     the    clergy. 
Consider  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  consider 
the  snares  to  which  the  pitiable  weaknesses  of  men 
are  exposed  by  a  compulsion  of  this  sort.     I  am 
sure  that  many,  who  are  at  present  angiy  with  me 
for  not  supporting  the  Romish  system  of  celibacy, 
did  they  but  know  what   I   do   of    the   interior 
practices  of  the  monasteries,  would  instantly  join 
with  me  in  wishing  those  hiding   places    to   be 
levelled  with  the  ground,  rather  than  that  they 
should  afl'ord  occasion  to  the  commission  of  such 
dreadful  impieties."  t 

This  leads  me  to  notice  that  strange  anomaly 

•  For  the  results  of  clerical  celibacy  in  Central  and  Western 
Asia,  see  Erman's  "  Travels  in  Siberia,"  vol.  ii.  p.  282  ;  and 
Fletcher's  "Notes  on  Nineveh,"  vol.  i.  p.  316. 

t  See  *'  Historv'  of  the  Reformation." 


236 


THE   TAGUS  AND   THE   TIBER. 


in  our  law,  that  the  freest  country  on  earth  should 
not  have  provided  any  safeguard  against  persons 
being  carried  off  to  religious  houses,  and  tliere 
forcibly  detained  against  their  will.  It  is  mon- 
strous to  think  that  Englishmen,  with  the  warn- 
ings of  history  before  them,  should  not  long  ago 
have  decreed  that  every  monastery  and  convent, 
if  such  establishments  are  to  be  tolerated,  should 
be  periodically  inspected  by,  and  its  inmates  con- 
fronted  with,  the  civil  magistrate.  If  most  Boman 
Catholic  nations  have  abolished  these  institutions 
as  public  nuisances,  corrupting  to  morals  and 
encouraging  idleness,  the  least  that  we  Protestants 
can  do  is  to  protect  the  liberty  of  the  subject 
against  the  contrivances  of  their  cunning  heads. 
If  recent  cases  of  unwilling  incarceration  do  not 
open  the  eyes  of  Parliament,  the  country  must 
adopt  summary  measures  to  obtain  redress  ;  for 
that  establishments  should  exist  in  our  land, 
governed  by  foreign  priests  and  inaccessible  to  the 
officers  of  justice,  is  a  fact  that  Avould  scarcely  be 
credited  even  by  a  Tyrolese  or  a  Spaniard. 

In  this  age  of  advancement  and  progress,  when 
most  men  recognise  the  great  principles  of  civil 


INFLUENCE  OF  ROMAN   CATHOLICISM.       237 

and  religious  liberty  ;  in  this  free  country,  where 
difference  of  creed  no  longer  deprives  a  man  of 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  it  is  important  to  study 
the  influence  of  Roman  Catholicism  on  the  freedom 
of  the  mind.     According  to  some,  the  doctrine  of 
persecution  for  conscience  sake  does  not,  in  these 
more  enlightened    times,    obtain    a  place  in   tlie 
councils  of  the  Papacy  ;  according  to  others,  the 
sentiments  and  designs  of  the  dominant  party  in 
that  Church  are  both  unchanged  and  unchangeable. 
If  the   former  supposition   be    correct,    we   have 
politically   little   to   fear   from   the   extension    of 
priestly  advices ;  if  the  latter  opinion  be  the  true 
one,    then   every  wise  Government,    founded    on 
liberal  principles,  must  look  with  -keen  suspicion 
On  the  agents   of  Popery.      Could  we   ascertain 
that,    under   the    disguise    of    reformers    willing 
to   grant    equal   privileges    to   all    mankind,    the 
pioneers  of  the  Holy  See  really  wished  to  establish 
in   England    that    ecclesiastical    tyranny   which 
prevails   in  Austria,   Italy,   and    Spain ;  to   deny 
Protestants  liberty  to  worship,  to  deprive  them  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  to  proclaim,  under  pains  and 
penalties,   an  uniformity  of    religious  profession, 


238 


THE   TAG  US  AND   THE  TIBER. 


then  we  must  lay  aside  all  generous  scruples,  and 
treat  those  plotters,  not  as  erring  theorists,  but  as 
enemies  to  the  constitution,  and  guilty  of  an  offence 
against  civil  law. 

One  of  the  most  original  thinkers  of  the  present 
day  has  remarked  :  "  The  duty  of  using  extreme 
means  for  the  preservation  of  tnith,  or,  in  common 
Protestant  parlance,  the  practice  of  persecution,  is, 
by  the  most  direct  and  absolute  connexion  of 
principles,  a  necessary  element  of  the  Komish 
Church  tlieory."  *  His  sentiment  appears  to  my 
mind  stamped  with  the  natural  impress  of  verity. 
However  successful  in  obtaining  adherents  during 
ages  of  ignorance,  and  in  countries  where  despotism 
represses  the  mental  powers,  Popery  is  alien  to  the 
aspirations  of  humanity,  hostile  to  the  real  feelings 
even  of  its  victims,  and  not  congenial  to  the 
European  mind.  It  knows  this  inherent  animosity, 
and,  assuming  an  attitude  of  defiance,  trusts  to  the 
dungeon,  the  scaffold,  and  the  brand  ;  like  a  hated 
despot,  who,  conscious  that  no  one  loves  him, 
seeks  to  goveni  by  the  sword  alone,  it  sees  no 
prospect  of  retaining  power,  unless  by  over-awing 

*  *'  Spiritual  Despotism,"  by  lijaac  Taylor,  p.  314. 


\ 


POPISH    PERSECUTION. 


239 


its  adversaries  by  a  politic  display  of  unyielding 
jealousy  and  implacable  revenge. 

There   are   two  doctrines   peculiar    to    Roman 
Catholicism,  which,  in  my  opinion,  tend  infallibly 
to  sanction  persecution  for  conscience  sake — the 
belief  that  no  man  can  be  saved  beyond  the  pale 
of  the  Church,  and  the   recognition  of  the  Roman 
bishop  as  God's  vicegerent   on    earth.     Noncon- 
formists of  every  kind  must  be  regarded  by  the 
true  Papist  in  the  light  of  rebels  against  Divine 
authority,    and    as   such    deserving   of  the  direst 
punishment ;   they  are  commanded  to  recant,  or 
suffer ;  to  submit  to  the  laws  of  Heaven,  or  endure 
Heaven's  righteous  indignation  towards   the  im- 
penitent.    Religious   liberty  and   toleration   may 
for  certain  pui*poses  be  approved  of,  or  even  en- 
joined by  Popery;  but  they   will   appear  to  the 
rigid  inquirer  at  variance  with  the  very  essence 
of  its  ecclesiastical  system. 

Let  us  not  forget,  moreover,  that  not  only  does 
Rome  preside  over  a  tyranny  contrary  to  natm-al 
laws,  but  it  opposes  itself  to  those  patriotic  princi- 
ples which  Providence  has  implanted  in  the  human 
breast.     The  Pontiff  is  in  many  respects  a  foreign 


240 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


power,  and,  like  all  foreign  powers,  he  must  govern 
by  force,  or  lose  his  subjects.  Many  skilful  men 
have  made  the  attempt,  but  none  have  yet  been 
able  to  draw  the  line  between  his  political  and 
ecclesiastical  authority ;  every  country'  of  Europe 
has,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  felt  that  he  is  a 
potentate  as  well  as  a  priest.  If  too,  as  has  been 
already  observed,  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  favours 
fanaticism,  so  does  it  naturally  make  persecutors 
of  those  who  profess  it.  That  there  are  as  liberal 
and  humane  men  in  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church 
as  in  any  Christian  denomination,  far  be  it  from 
me  to  deny  ;  but  if  we  attentively  consider  the 
doctrines,  institutions,  and  government  of  that 
Church,  I  think  it  may  fairly  be  questioned,  whether 
those  who  in  this  age  have  imbibed  the  true  spirit 
of  the  Papacy  differ  in  any  respect  from  those 
who  approved  the  policy  of  burning  heretics  at 
the  stake.  If  persecution  be  not  inherent  in 
Roman  Catholicism,  how  came  it  to  pass  that 
human  beings  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,  men 
refined  by  education  and  not  insensible  to  softer 
feelings,  devoted  their  best  energies,  their  time, 
money,    and    eloquence,    to    hunt    their    fellow- 


THE  IXQUISITIOX. 


241 


creatures  as  partridges  on  the  mountains,  and  bind 
w^omen  and  cliildrcn  to  be  swallowed  up  by 
devouring  flames. 

The  priests  of  this  religion  have  exceeded  even 
heathen  nations  in  devising  schemes  of  cruelty ; 
the  various  modes  of  torture  which  tliey  have 
invented  fill  tlie  mind  with  horror,  and  the  Coli- 
seum with  all  its  bloody  scenes  loses  half  its  terrors 
when  compared  with  the  Inquisitorial  dungeons.* 
Never  did  the  lions  and  panthers,  brought  by 
Caligula  from  Numidian  deserts,  so  mangle  the 
bodies  of  the  good  as  did  the  followers  of  Loyola 


*  "  The  Church  of  Rome  defended  by  violence  the  empire 
which  she  had  acquired  by  fraud ;  a  system  of  peace  and  benevo- 
lence was  soon  disgraced  by  proscriptions,  wars,  massacres,  and 
the  institution  of  the   Holy  Office.     And  as  the  reformers  were 
animated  by  the  love  of  civU  as  well  as  of  religious  freedom,  the 
Catholic  princes  connected  their  own  interest  with  that  of  the 
clergj',aud  enforced  hj  fire  and  the  sword  the  tenors  of  spiritual 
censures.     In  the   Netheriauds  alone,  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  of  the  subjects  of  Charles  Y.  are  said  to  have  suffered 
by  the  hands  of  the  executioner.     If  we  submit  our  belief  to  the 
authority  of  Grotius,  it  must  be  allowed  that  the  number  of 
Protestants  who  were  executed  in  a  single  province  and  a  single 
reign  far  exceeded  that  of  the  primitive  martyrs  ii;  the  space  of 
three  centuries  and  of  the  Ru:aan  empire."— Gibboii's  "Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  chap.  xvi. 

Vol.  II.  L 


242 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


in  the  palmy  clays  of  Home.     Nero  has  left  on 
record  no  such  example  of  savage  punishment  as 
that  which  Cochlanis,  himself  a  Papist,  nan-ates  as 
having  been  inflicted  in  the  16th  century  on  the 
erson  of  Michael    Sellarius,  an    apostate   monk, 
whom  the  Church  condemned  to  have  his  tongue 
cut  out  by  the  executioner,  to  be  tied  to  a  cuiTicle, 
to  have  two  pieces  of  flesh  torn  from  his  body  in 
the  market-place  by  red-hot  pincers,  then  to  be 
torn  after^vards  by  the  same  pincers  five  times  on 
tlie  road  to  the  burning  pile. 

Tlie  history  of  the  world  gives  an  account  of 
but  one  Inquisition;  no  such  colossus  of  cruelty  was 
ever  invented  by  heathen  or  Moslem  fanaticism  : 
while  the  rites  of  Hindoo  idolatry  have  slain  their 
thousands,  tens  of  thousands  have  fallen  victims  to 
this  demon  of  blood.    Caraifa  was  more  terrible  in 
Europe  than  Tamerlane  in  Asia ;  even  those  who 
watched  with  interest  St.  Paul  grappling  with  wild 
beasts  at  Ephesus,  would  have  been  filled  with  dis- 
may had  they  witnessed  the  auto-da-fe  formally 
held  at  certain  intervals  by  command  of  the  Papacy, 
before  the  Church  of  Santa  :Maria  alia  Minerva,  in 


THE  ALBIGENSES. 


243 


Rome.  Nor  can  we  forget  that  dreadful  persecu- 
tion, w^hich  in  the  thirteenth  century,  under  Inno- 
cent III.,  laid  waste  the  smiling  fields  of  Lan- 
guedoc.  "It  was  prosecuted,"  says  Hallam, 
"  with  every  atrocious  barbarity  wliich  superstition, 
the  mother  of  crimes,  could  inspire."*  Cities 
Avere  razed,  women  and  cliildren  massacred, 
families  extirpated,  and  the  papal  emissaries  did 
not  cease  their  work  of  havoc  till  the  bleeding 
remnant  of  the  Albigenses  found  concealment  from 
their  swords.  "  And  this,"  remarks  the  same  can- 
did historian,  ''  was  to  punish  a  fanaticism  ten 
thousand  times  more  innocent  than  their  own,  and 
errors  which,  according  to  tlie  worst  imputations, 
left  the  laws  of  humanity  and  the  peace  of  social 
life  unimpaired." 

Whoever  wishes  to  know  the  real  sentiments  of 
the  Papal  institution  in  regard  to  religious  con- 
formity, has  only  to  read  the  history  of  Protestant- 
ism in  France,  and  to  think  of  that  dreadful  moment  f 


*  Hallam's  "  Middle  Ages,"  vol.  i.  p.  25 
t  On     this     subject     see    Voltaii-e'.s    lutroductiun     to    the 
"  Heuriade." 


244 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


THE   INQUISITION. 


245 


when  the  tocsin  of  the  Palace  of  Justice  began  to 
sound,  and  Paris  raised  to  heaven  a  bitter  cry  of 
•'  Down,  down  with  the  Huguenots !"  If  Roman- 
ism wishes  to  be  absolved  from  the  persecuting 
charge,  that  chapter  which  contains  an  account  of 
the  massacre  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day  must  be 
blotted  out  of  the  European  records.* 

I  need  not  do  more  than  refer  to  the  persecutions 
in  Poland,  in  Saxony,  and  in  Bohemia ;  or  to  the 
blazing  faggots  lighted  by  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance to  consume  the  sainted   bodies  of  Jerome 

*  "  Imagine,"  says  the  author  of  the  "  Histoire  des  Cinq  Rois," 
"  a  vast  city,  in  which  60,000  men,  armed  ^vith  pistols,  stakes, 
cutlasses,  poniards,  knives,  and  other  bloody  weapons,  are  running 
about  on  all  sides,  blaspheming  and  abusing  the  sacred  name 
of  God,  rushing  along  the  streets,  breaking  into  the  houses,  and 
cruelly  murdering  all  they  meet.  The  pavements  were  covered 
with  bodies  ;  the  doors,  gates,  and  entrances  of  the  palaces  and 
private  houses  steeped  in  blood  ;  a  horrible  tempest  of  yells  and 
murderous  cries  filled  the  air,  mmgled  with  the  reports  of  pistols 
and  arquebuses,  and  the  piteous  shrieks  of  the  slaughtered ;  the 
dead  were  falling  from  the  windows  upon  the  causeways,  or 
dragged  through  the  mire  with  strange  whistlings  and  bowlings  ; 
doors  and  windows  were  crashing  with  hatchets  or  stones ; 
houses  were  sacked  or  pillaged ;  cari;s  passing,  filled  ^^'ith  muti- 
lated corpses,  which  were  afterwards  thrown  into  the  Seine,  the 
river  being  crimson  with  the  blood  which  was  running  in  tor- 
rents through  the  town." 


. 


and  John  IIuss ;  these  sad  histories  are  familiar  to 
the  English  ear,  and  they  solemnly  warn  us,  as  we 
value  religious  freedom,  to  make  no  covenant  with 
Rome. 

Mr.  Prescott  computes  that  dm-ing  the  eighteeen 
years  of  Torquemada's  ministry  in  Spain,  10,220 
persons  were  burnt,  6,860  condemned  and  burnt 
in  effigy,  as  absent  or  dead,  and  97,321  re- 
conciled by  torture  to  the  Church.  "The  In- 
quisition," says  that  eloquent  historian,  "has 
probably  contributed  more  than  any  other  cause  to 
depress  the  lofty  character  of  the  ancient  Spaniard, 
and  has  thrown  tlie  gloom  of  fanaticism  over  those 
lovely  regions  which  seem  to  be  the  natural  abode 
of  festivity  and  pleasure."*  Let  us  also  keep 
continually  in  mind,  that  Rome  can  choose 
amongst  her  victims,  —  that  while  Protestants 
have  been  from  time  immemorial  the  objects  of 
her  fiercest  persecution,  infidels  not  only  escaped 
the  emissaries  of  the  Holy  Office,  but  reached 
the  highest  eminences  of  joriestly  power.  The 
Waldenses  were  slaughtered  like  wolves  on   the 

*  Historj'  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  vol.  i.  p.  301. 


246 


TFIE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


OUR  REMEDY. 


247 


Cottian  mountains,  because  tliey  adhered  to  tlie 
religion  of  their  fathers;  but  sceptics  obtained 
cardinals'  hats,  and  we  know  that  at  least  one 
unbeliever  in  revelation  sat  on  the  throne  of  St. 

Peter. 

These  remarks  have  been  made,  not  in  any  un- 
kindly spirit  towards  a  portion  of  my  fellow-sub- 
jects, but  to  illustrate  the  political   tendencies  of 
tliat   Church    "whose   turrets    gleam   with   such 
crystalline  light,  but  whose  dungeons  are  so  deep, 
and  dark,  and  terrible."  *  Had  Roman  Catholicism 
possessed  only  an  ecclesiastical  influence,  the  Bible 
and  the  schoolroom  might  have  been  left  single- 
handed  to  oppose  it ;    but  connected  as  it  is  so 
intimately  with  civil  affairs,  our  legislators  woukl 
be  swerving  from  the  path  of  duty  were  they  not 
to  watch  its  aggressive  movements.     What  mea- 
sures may  be  necessary  to  check  priestly  encroach- 
ments it  is  not  for  me  to  specify ;  I  merely  suggest 
the  presence  of  danger,  and  leave  wiser  heads  to 
discover  the  remedy  ;  but  whatever  enactments  the 
course  of  events  points  out  to  our  statesmen  as 

♦  Lougfellow's  "  Kavanagh." 


\ 


requisite  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  this  great 
nation,  most  men  will  agree  that  they  should  be 
carried  into  effect  with  firmness,  and  framed  so  as 
to  discriminate  between  the  loyal  Catholics  ot 
England,  and  the  agents  of  the  Austrian  camarilla 
at  Rome. 


DIVISION  OF  ESTATES. 


249 


CHAPTER  X. 

NOTES    ON    THE    LAND    QUESTION    AT    HOME    AND 

ABROAD. 

IMPORTANCE    OF    THIS    SUBJECT — ENGLISH    AGRICULTURE — LEASES 

— APPEARANCE   OP   HOLLAND — SCOTCH   FARMING THE    PEASANT 

PROPERTIES  IN  FRANCE,  FLANDERS,  SWITZERLAND  AND  TUSCANY 
— OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  THE  SOIL  IN  NORMANDY, 
THE  CANTON  BERNE,  AND  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  LOIRE — COM- 
FORTABLE ASPECT  OF  THE  LANDHOLDERS  IN  THE  LOWLAND  PARTS 
OF  SWITZERLAND — SISMONDl's  OPINION — AGRICULTURAL  IM- 
PROVEMENTS AMONGST  THE  MOUNTAINS — REMARKS  ON  THE 
FIELDS  OF  STYRIA,  CARINTHIA,  THE  TYROL,  AND  PIEDMONT — 
COLLEGES  ABROAD  FOR  THE  EDUCATION  OF  FARMERS — CONSER- 
VATIVE INFLUENCE  OF  PEASANT  PROPERTIES — THE  FREEHOLD 
LAND  SOCIETIES — TENDENCY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  FEUDAL  LAWS  TO 
PREVENT  THE  NATURAL  DIVISION  OF  THE  SOIL — DISADVANTAGES 
OF  SMALL  ESTATES — INDEBTEDNESS  OF  THESE  PROPERTIES  IN 
FRANCE  AND  CANADA — THEY  PREVENT  THE  FREE  INTERCHANGE 
OF  INDUSTRY — INCREASE  THE  NUMBER  OF  IDLERS  IN  LARGE 
TOWNS — AND  AFFORD  NO  RESERVE  AGAINST  AN  EVIL  DAY — DAN- 
GERS  THRExVTENING  BRITAIN. 

It  is  not  my  intention  in  this  chapter  to  discuss  at 
any  length  the  effects  which  have  resulted  from  the 


] 


division  of  tlie  great  feudal  estates,  on  the  Continent, 
into  a  vast  number  of  small  properties  cultivated 
by  their  owners.  All  interested  in  this  most  im- 
portant subject,  will  carefully  read  the  volumes  of 
those  philosophic  men  whose  attention  has  been 
turned  for  many  years  to  the  distribution  of  the 
land  in  Europe.*  In  some  countries,  such  as 
Flanders,  Switzerland  and  Tuscany,  the  soil  has 
been  possessed  by  the  peasantry  for  centuries ;  in 
others,  such  as  France  and  Prussia,  the  breaking 
up  of  the  old  baronial  holdings  has  been  of  com- 
paratively recent  date,  so  recent  indeed,  that  the 
consequences  can  scarcely  yet  be  ascertamed  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy.  Tlie  FrencJi  Eevolution 
has  left  no  result  more  likely  to  prove  permanently 
important  than  that  which  concerns  the  change  in 
the  occupancy  of  land. 

The  solution  of  this  most  difficult  question  must 
be  of  paramount  interest  to  the  statesmen  of  Eng- 
land, and  to  all  who  contemplate  with  a  calm 
intellectual   eye    the   future  of  our   sea-girt  isle. 

*  See  John  Stuart  Mill's  "  Principles  of  Political  Economy  ;" 
Samuel  Laing's  "  Notes  of  a  Traveller,"  and  "  Observations  on 
Europe  ;"  and  Kay's  "  Social  Condition  of  the  People." 

l3 


250 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


ENGLISH   AGRICULTURE. 


251 


While  we  have  been  aggregating  small  properties 
into   large,   economising   labour    on    farms,    and 
strengthening   the   institutions   of   a  former   age, 
other    nations   have   been   distributing    the    land 
amongst    working   proprietors,  encouraging  spade 
husbandry,  and  introducing  a  new  social  era,  likely 
to  be  attended  with  results  eminently  instructive. 
The   consideration  of  this  experiment  appears  to 
me    so   momentous,    that    I   cannot    refrain   from 
making  on  it  a  few  brief  remarks,  more  with  a 
view  of  introducing  it  to  the  reader's  notice,  and 
suggesting  to  him  the  propriety  of  studying  it, 
than  of  stating  any  opinions  of  my  own.     On  a 
subject  of  such  transcemlent  national  importance,  it 
is  not  the  province  of  a  miter  to  dogmatise,  or 
defend  a  theory ;  let  him  bring  the  matter  in  some 
of  its  bearings  before  the  public,  and  leave  every 
one  to  consider  it  attentively  for  himself. 

Now  that  the  Corn  Laws  have  been  repealed, 
and  the  agriculturists  left  to  triLst  to  their  Own  re- 
sources, it  will  be  admitted  on  all  hands  that  much 
greater  enterprise  must  be  shown  by  the  cultivators 
of  the  soil.  If  the  art  of  husbandry  in  Britain  do 
not  keep  pace  with  the  times,  both  farmers  and 


landlords  will  be  injuriously  affected;  if  remarkable 
improvements  be  not  at  once  introduced  by  the 
agriculturists,  they  will  find  themselves  unable  to 
meet  the  pressure  of  adverse  circumstances,  and 
universal  disaster  will  follow.  Even  in  Scotland, 
whose  farming  has  become  celebrated  throughout 
the  civilized  world,  there  is  abundant  room  for 
scientific  men  to  increase  the  produce  of  the  land ; 
few  acquainted  with  the  grain-growing  districts 
north  of  the  Forth,  will  deny  that  they  might  yield 
fifty-fold  more,  if  all  the  cultivators  knew  their 
business ;  while  in  England,  the  ignorance  of  the 
tillers  of  the  soil  has  passed  into  a  proverb.  A 
German  or  Frenchman  who  has  heard  a  great  deal 
concerning  the  industrial  energy  of  our  countrymen, 
would  be  surprised  were  he  to  visit  the  midland 
and  southern  counties  of  this  island,  and  see  with 
his  own  eyes  the  miserable  cultivation,  the  un- 
drained  fields,  the  useless  hedge-rows,  the  anti- 
quated instruments  and  the  waste  of  labour,  which 
Com  Laws  and  class  legislation  have  fostered. 
The  corn  grows  only  on  the  top  of  the  ridges,  the 
lower  parts  of  the  enclosures  being  so  saturated 
with  water,   that   the   seed    rots    in    the    ground : 


252 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


ohemical  manures,  however  useful,  are  unknown ; 
three  horses  drag,  and  two  men  drive  a  plough, 
which  in  Scotland  requires  only  one  horse  and  one 
man ;  no  attention  is  paid  to  preserve  the  liquid 
treasures  of  the  farm-yard ;  a  dozen  fences  are 
allowed  to  remain  where  a  fourth  part  of  the  num- 
ber would  suffice,  and  every  operation  is  conducted 
exactly  as  it  used  to  be  in  the  days  of  the  occupant's 
great-great-great-grandfather.  So  little  indeed  is 
the  cultivation  of  the  land  understood  in  England, 
that  rents  vary  from  ten  shillings  to  two  pounds 
per  acre,  of  soils  which,  across  the  Borders,  bring 
without  difficulty  two  pounds  ten  shillings  to  four 
pounds.  As  long  as  landlords  refuse  to  give  leases, 
this  state  of  things  will  continue ;  for  it  is  the 
farmer  who  must  improve  a  property,  and  he  can- 
not be  expected  to  do  so,  if,  by  giving  a  hostile 
political  vote,  he  may  incur  the  owner's  dis])lea3ure, 
and  receive  notice  to  quit  his  occupancy  at  the 
next  term.  One  can  indeed  scarcely  credit  the 
fact,  that  a  system  enforced  by  the  Institutes  of 
Justinian*  in  the  sixth  century,  and  adopted  since 

•  See  Gibbon's  **  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire," 
vol.  V.  p.  414. 


ENGLISH   AGRICULTURE. 


253 


by  every  civilized  nation  under  the  sun,  should 
not  even  at  this  late  time  of  day  be  in  operation 
throughout  enlightened  England. 

In    several    parts   of    the    Continent     I    have 
obser\^ed  inferior  farming;     as,    for   example,    in 
the    Grand    Duchy    of    Hesse    Darmstadt,     be- 
tween Frankfort  and  Heidelberg,  on  the  Rhenish 
plain,    bounded   by  the  mountains  of  the  Black 
Forest,    near    Freyburg   in    Baden,    the  favourite 
haunt  of  the  sacred  storks,  and  along  the  valley  of 
the  Rhone,  from  Avignon  to  Vienne ;  but  it  would 
be  difficult  to  mention  any  districts  in  Europe,  out 
of  Russia,  Turkey,  Greece  and  Spain,  cultivated 
with  so  little  agricultural  skill  as  some  fertile  soils 
on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  the  Wiltshire  Avon 
and  the  Severn.  I  might  extend  these  notes  almost 
ad  Uhitnm,  by  more  detailed  references  to  the  back- 
ward state  of  English  agriculture ;  by  describing 
somewhat  minutely  the  system  of  farming  which, 
though  pursued  in  Dorsetshire  and  Gloucester,  a 
Scotch  occupant  would   scarcely   credit;  but  the 
deficiency  is  so  obvious  and  remarkable,  that  no 
one  but  an  untravelled  yeoman  has  not  again  and 
again  remarked  it.    Even  in  Holland,  where  green 


254 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


BELGIUM. 


255 


pasture  fields,  enclosed  by  water  courses,  constitute, 
except  in  the  province  of  Utrecht,  the  alpha  and 
omega  of  the  scenery,  the  stranger  feels  that  more 
science  has  been  expended  on  husbandry  than  in 
the  southern  provinces  of  England.  I  thought 
while  journeying  through  that  singular  country, 
and  remarking  the  care  taken  to  protect  the  cattle 
from  damp,  the  windmills  employed  in  keeping 
the  country  dry,  and  the  extensive  vegetable  gar- 
dens, that  some  of  our  stout  farmers  might  have 
received  a  lesson  from  the  sensible  Dutch. 

Before  going  abroad,  1  was  under  the  impression 
that  no  land  in  the  world  was  so  well  tilled  as  that 
of  Scotland,  especially  of  the  Lothians ;  newspapers, 
journals,  and  books  teemed  with  references  to  the 
improvements  introduced  by  my  countrymen ;  and 
in  every-day  conversation,  people  talked  of  Had- 
dington and  the  Carse  of  Gowrie,  as  farmed  in  a 
style  unknown  in  any  other  part  of  Europe.  This 
excellence  was  universally  attributed  to  the  fact  of 
the  farms  being  large,  and  their  owners  men  of 
capital ;  that  mere  peasants  could  have  produced 
results  equally  favourable,  those  from  whom  my 
ideas  were  derived  would  have  strenuously  denied. 


\ 


Conceive  then  of  my  surprise,  when,  before  I  had 
been  a  week  in  the  north   of  France,  travelling 
leisurely  over  the  country  between  Calais,  St.  Omer 
and  Lille,  all  my  preconceived  notions  were  proved 
to  be  radically  unsound.     I  have  since  at  various 
times  been  in  most  of  the  European  countries,  and, 
wherever  the  peasants  owned  the  soil,  I  have  found 
cultivation   as  far  superior    even   to   that  of   the 
Lothians,  as  that  of  the  Lothians  is  to  the  hus- 
bandry^ on  the  Dorsetshire  coast. 

Belgium  is  so  well  known  to  Englishmen  as  a 
garden  abounding  with  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  a 
very  agricultural  Eden,  that  no  one  will  deny  the 
validity  of  an  argument  founded  upon  its  appear- 
ance ;  but  let  us  take  districts  less  known,  to  illus- 
trate the  question  at  issue.     A  crowd  of  instances 
occur  to  my  mind  bearing  upon  this  subject.     Did 
the  reader  ever  travel  in  the  diligence  from  Utrecht 
to  Antwerp  through  North  Brabant,  and  passing 
the  Waal  at  Gorcum  in  a  sailing-boat,  remark  the 
state  of  agriculture  between  Breda  and  the  estuary 
of  the  Scheldt  ?     Has  he,  while  whirling  along  in 
the  railroad  near  Brussels,  on  the  way  to  the  French 
frontier,  noticed  the  beautiful  tillage  on  the  small 
estates  bordering  on  the  line?     Or  did  he  ever 


256 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


SWITZERLAND. 


257 


.1 


travel  through  Normandy,  to  observe  the  general 
richness  of  the  country,  and  especially  that  un- 
equalled view  of  corn-fields  and  peasants'  houses 
which  presents  itself  from  the  prefecture  at  Av- 
ranches?  Perchance  he  may  have  wandered  too 
by  the  banks  of  the  murmuring  Loire,  under  the 
shadow  of  the  castle  of  Blois,  or  among  the  groves 
of  the  Chateau  de  Chaumont?  Tf  so,  will  he  soon 
forget  the  farm-cottages,  models  of  neatness,  the 
vineyards  sloping  down  to  tlie  stream,  the  church- 
spires  peeping  out  of  the  trees,  thv  well-ordered 
fences,  and  fertile  fields,  which  indicate  an  indus- 
trious race  of  liusbandmen,  and  make  it  a  pleasure 
to  travel  from  Orleans  to  Tours  ?  *  Or  will  he 
accompany  me  in  a  trip  across  the  lowland  cantons 
of  Switzerland,  to  see  what  progress  agi'iculture  lias 
made  in  that  republican  land  ? 

Scarcely  has  the  diligence  left  Basle,  when  his 
attention  will  be  called  to  the  prosperous  looking 
chalets  and  well-tilled  fields  in  the  jj:lens  of  the 
mountains  ;  and  if,  as  is  often  the  case,  he  passes 
through  a  village  on  a  market-day,  he  will  witness 

*  "  The  agriculture  of  France  had  been  extremely  improved 
since  the  breaking  up  of  the  great  estates  into  smaller  por- 
tions."— Sir  W.  Scott's  "  Life  of  Napoleon,"  chap,  xxxviii. 


a  scene  of  rural  comfort  and   enjoyment,   which 
might  gladden  the  most  desponding  heart.     De- 
scending into  the  plain  beyond  Soleure,  he  will 
find  the  country  improve  in  beauty  and  fertility ; 
and  when  he  has  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  lakes 
of  Murten  and   Neufchatel,  no   pressing  will   be 
required  to  make  him  confess  that  the  farming, 
even  of  the  Lothians,  cannot  be  compared  with 
that  of  the  canton   Berne.     He  will  observe  the 
peasants    driving   home   in   their  substantial  wa- 
gons, to  be  met  by  a  happy  family  at  the  door  of  a 
house,  equal  in  size  to  that  of  a  small  proprietor  in 
England;  while  every  field  appears  better  tilled 
than  many  of  our  gardens,  and  no  useless  hedge- 
rows diminish  the  quantity  of  available  soil. 

In  Switzerland  there  are  no  lordly  mansions  ; 
but  neither  are  there  any  hovels ;  the  richest  do 
not  live  in  palaces,  but  neither  do  the  poorest  dwell 
in  pigsties;  every  one  enjoys  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  has  an  air  of  independence  and  comfort, 
refreshing  to  those  acquainted  with  the  squalid 
poverty  of  Britain.  Near  each  house  you  see 
invariably  an  immense  store  of  firewood,  cut  int 
pieces,  and  ready  for  use,  but  quite  unprotected, 


258 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


SlSMONDl'S  OPINION. 


259 


li 


for  robbers  do  not  thrive  in  the  most  democratic, 
and  most  cheaply  governed  country  in  Europe. 
One  sign  of  opulence  on  the  part  of  the  meanest 
peasants  has  several  times  attracted  my  notice. 
At  the  door  of  every  chalet,  no  matter  how  small, 
may  generally  be  found  a  little  coach  for  the 
youngsters"  of  the  family !  How  would  our  agri- 
cultural labourers  stare  if  asked  whether  or  not 
they  possessed  such  a  luxury!  Then  no  one 
will  fail  to  observe  the  heaps  of  manure,  carefully 
tended  and  trenched  around,  the  well-irrigated 
meadows,  the  nicely  pruned  fruit-trees,  and  the 
many  other  signs  of  an  entei-prising  peasantry, 
which  please  every  intelligent  tourist  in  Swit- 
zerland. 

The  same  remarks  apply  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree  to  Saxony,  most  parts  of  Prussia,  and,  in- 
deed, nearly  all  the  German  principalities.  Does 
the  reader  recollect  that  beautiful  road  up  the 
banks  of  the  Neckar,  from  Heidelberg  to  Heil- 
broun,  and  thence  through  the  kingdom  of  Wir- 
temberg  ?  Has  he  forgotten  with  what  admiration 
he  beheld  the  plains  of  Lombardy,  and  the  still 
more  beautiful  fields  of  Lucca  and  Tuscany?  or  did 


he  ever  drive  beneath  the  festoons  of  vines  which 
shade  the  plantations  of  maize  and  barley  on  the 
coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Genoa?     If  he  has  travelled 
in  all  or  any  of  the  regions  just  mentioned,  with 
an  observant  eye,  I  am  sure  he  will  be  at  no  loss 
to  understand  Sismondi's  remark,*   that    "  when 
one  journeys  through   the  whole  of  Switzerland, 
and  through  several  parts  of  France,  Italy,  and 
Germany,  it   is   not   necessary  to   inquire,  when 
looking  at  a  piece  of  land,  whether  it  belongs  to  a 
peasant  proprietor,  or  to  a  farmer  holding  it  under 
a  landlord.     The  land  of  the  former  is  marked  by 
the  care   bestowed   on   it,  by  the   growth  of  the 
vegetables  and  fruits  useful  to  his  family,  and  by 
the  neatness  and  perfection  of  the  cultivation." 

In  the  provinces  alluded  to  above,  the  English 
traveller  will  observe  the  most  perfect  farming  to  be 
seen  in  Europe.  Nothing  has  been  left  undone  to 
render  the  soil  as  productive  as  possible  ;  every  foot 
of  ground  yields  a  return ;  unnecessary  fences  do 
not  exist ; 'stones  have  been  picked  off  the  land ;  a 
weed  is  rarely  to  be  seen ;  the  manure  from  the 
farm-yard,  the  farmer  s  house,  and  the  offices,  has 

•  Nouveaux  Priucipes  d'Economie  Politique,  lib.  iii.  chap.  3. 


260 


THE  TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


FLEMISH   HUSBANDRY. 


261 


been  carefully  preserved,  and  scientifically  prepared 
for  use  ;  the  cattle  are  kept  clean  and  healthy ;  the 
owTier  has  made  it  a  study  to  understand  the 
nature  and  wants  of  various  soils ;  injurious  grasses 
have  been  plucked  out  of  the  meadows,  and  the 
whole  estate  appears  like  a  carpet  dyed  of  different 
colours  by  the  different  crops. 

Now  these  properties  differ  in  no  respect  from 
the  great  feudal  holdings  in  England,  excepting  in 
their  size,  and  the  tenure  of  their  occupants ;  the 
soil  is  not  superior,  the  climate,  in  most  of  the 
instances  cited,  is  the  same ;  but  he  would  be  a 
bold  man,  even  among  the  lowland  farmers  of 
Scotland,  who  would  maintain  that  his  land  pro- 
duced as  much  per  acre,  was  as  free  from  weeds,  and 
looked  so  like  a  garden,  as  that  of  the  working  pea- 
sant proprietor  in  Belgium,  Saxony,  Switzerland, 
northern  Italy,  and  certain  districts  of  France. 

Until  I  had  visited  the  forest  cantons  on  the 
Alps,  the  hilly  districts  of  Styria,  Carinthia,  and 
the  Tyrol,  the  slopes  of  the  Apennines  in  Pied- 
mont and  Tuscany,  and  the  retired  corners  of  the 
Juras,  I  had  no  idea  how  mountains  might  be  cul- 
tivated.    With   all  our  boasted  industry,  capital. 


and  skill,  we  have  no  such  agriculture  in  Scot- 
land. Sometimes  a  man  may  be  seen  holding  a 
plough  on  a  hillside,  while  his  daughter,  further  up 
the  declivity,  by  means  of  a  rope  attached  to  the 
implement,  prevents  it  from  rolling  down  to  a  less 
exalted  situation ;  waving  crops  of  rye  often  appear 
where  the  stranger  expects  to  find  only  the  chamois 
or  the  hunter ;  and  in  early  spring,  after  the  melt- 
ing of  the  snow,  I  have  repeatedly  observed 
crowds  of  women  carrying  on  their  heads  baskets 
filled  with  earth,  which  the  rain  had  washed  down 
into  the  valleys,  and  which  they  were  busy  re- 
placing on  tlie  terraces  above. 

]Mr.  :Mill,  when  reasoning  in  regard  to  Flemish 
husbandry,  says,*  ''  The  people  who  laboiu'  thus 
intensely,  because  labouring  for  themselves,  have 
practised  for  centuries  those  principles  of  rotation 
of  crops,  and  economy  of  manures,  which  in  Eng- 
land are  counted  among  modern  discoveries  ;  and 
even  now,  the  superiority  of  their  agriculture,  as  a 
whole,  to  that  of  England,  is  admitted  by  com- 
petent j  udges. ' '  — (- 


That  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  in  some  conti- 

♦  Principles  of  Political  Economy,  vol.i. 


I 


262 


THE  TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


nental  countries  not  only  work  hard,  but  under- 
stand  the    ART    of    farming,   is   proved    by   the 
number  of  agricultural  colleges   in  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Switzerland,  where  the  young  peasants 
undergo  as  complete  a  course  of  training  as  do  our 
medicll  men  and  lawyers  at  Edinburgh  or  Oxford. 
No  subject  connected  with  the  cultivation  of  land 
is  there  neglected,  and  as  the  people  show  their 
estimation  of  the  institutions  by  sending  their  sons 
to  enjoy  the  tuition  for  as  long  a  period  as  possible, 
we  cannot  be  surprised  that  men  thus  thoroughly 
educated  should  prove  much  better  tarmers  than 
the  yeomanry  of  England. 

Our  statesmen  would  do  well  to  consider  how 
iar  this  general  distribution  of  the  soil  amongst  the 
peasantr>^    tends    to    promote    social    order    and 
national    peace.     Each   proprietor,    who   has   ac- 
quired a  right  of  ownership,  respects  the  estate  of 
his  neighbour,  encourages  loyal  feelings  amongst 
his  acquaintanceship,  and  exerts  himself  to  main- 
tain the  tranquillity  as  well  as  the  liberties  of  his 
country :  he  feels  that  he  possesses  a  stake  in  the 
maintenance   of    lawful    authority,    and    however 
inclined  naturally  to  theorise,  his  estate  binds  him 


LEGAL   OaSTACLES. 


26.S 


indissolubly  to  the  party  of  order.  M.  Michelet, 
referring  to  the  troubles  which  have  from  time  to 
time  agitated  Paris,  remarks  that  "  the  whole  of 
the  country  districts  of  France,  with  their  millions 
of  peasant  proprietors,  formed,  so  to  speak,  the 
Mount  Ararat  of  the  Eevolution." 

It  may  reasonably  be  doubted  whether  we  are 
right  in  refusing  at  least  to  remove  tlie  legal 
obstacles  which  prevent  this  system  being  to  some 
extent  tried  in  England.  Perhaps  it  will  yet  be 
found  desirable  to  give  an  interest  in  the  land  to 
a  large  body  of  our  labouring  classes,  that  they, 
themselves  proprietors,  may  feel  it  incumbent  upon 
them  to  defend  the  rights  of  their  neighbours,  and 
promote  peace  and  security  within  the  borders  of 
their  native  country. 

In  several  ways  the  artisans  of  Britain  have 
lately  manifested  their  desire  to  acquire  this 
description  of  property.  Is  it  not  a  natural  and 
laudable  desire,  showing  their  excellent  sense,  and 
deserving  of  legislative  attention?  If  men  pro- 
fessing the  most  extreme  opinions  exist  among  us, 
men  who  set  at  nought  all  established  rights,  and 
propagate  the  vicious  principles  of  Socialism   in 


264 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


STATE  OF   THE   LAW. 


265 


1 


every  corner  of  the  country,  should  ^vc  not  endea- 
voui-  to  raise  up  a  phalanx  of  landed  proprietors, 
^vho,   although  possessing  hut  a  few  acres,  will 
prove  themselves  as  much  interested  in  the  preser- 
vation of  order,    as  much  opposed  to    levellmg 
theories,  as  the  Duke  of  Sutherland  or  the  Queen 
upon  the  throne?      Perhaps,  if  this   opinion  he 
founded  on  truth,  the  Freehold  Land   Societies, 
recently  established  in  the  manufacturing  districts, 
apart   altogether   from  their    immediate    political 
purposes,  may  be    found   the   most   conservative 
inventions  of  the  present  age. 

What  does  it  signify  whether  a  man  be  a  tory, 
a  whig,  a  radical,  or  a  chartist,  if  he  owns  his 
little  property  and  acquires  a  stake  in  the  country 
of  his  birth  ?  Though  a  republican  formeriy,  will 
he  not,  when  mobs  threaten  his  heritage,  be  ready 
to  girt  on  his  sword  for  constitutional  monarchy 
and  the  supremacy  of  law  ? 

It  will  indeed  be  a  remarkable  instance  of  an 
oven-uling  Providence,  if  measures,  adopted  prima- 
rily to  unseat  particular  members  for  particular 
eounties,  prove,  in  a  secondary  point  of  view,  one 
of    the   happiest   means   for   preserving    English 


society  that  ever  entered  into  the  mind  of  man. 
Posterity  will  not  care  one  straw  whether  Sir  John 
or  Mr.  John  represent  this  and  that  Midland  shire  ; 
but  remotest  ages  may  have  cause  to  bless  the 
founders  of  those  Societies  intended  to  give  the 
working-classes  an  interest  in  the  land.  * 

Few  people  not  versed  in  legal  forms  know  how 
difficult  a  matter  it  is  at  present  for  the  small 
tradesman,  the  farmer,  or  the  artisan,  to  purchase 
land  in  England.  Most  of  our  laws,  relating  to 
the  tenure  of  the  soil,  derive  their  origin  from 
feudalism,  and  have  been  wonderfully  little  modi- 
fied by  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  times. 
Xot  only  is  their  name  legion ;  but  their  terms, 

*  "  As  the  result  of  this  inquiry  into  the  direct  operation,  and 
indirect  influences,  of  peasant  properties,  I  conceive  it  to  be 
established  that  there  is  no  necessary  connexion  between  this 
form  of  landed  property  and  an  imperfect  state  of  the  arts  of 
production ;  that  it  is  favourable  in  quite  as  many  respects  as 
it  is  unfavourable  to  the  most  effective  use  of  the  powers  of  the 
soil ;  that  no  other  existing  state  of  agricultural  economy  has  so 
beneficial  effect  on  the  industry,  the  intelligence,  the  frugality, 
and  prudence  of  the  population,  nor  tends,  on  the  whole,  so 
much  to  discourage  an  improvident  increase  of  their  numbers  ; 
and  that  no  other,  therefore,  is,  on  the  whole,  so  favourable,  in 
the  present  state  of  their  education,  both  to  their  moral  and 
their  physical  welfare." — "Principles  of  Political  Economy,"  by 
J.  S.  Mill,  vol.  i.  p.  346. 


VOL.  II. 


M 


266 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


however  well  understood  in  the  middle  ages, 
require  explanation  in  the  nineteenth  century; 
they  were  framed  with  the  express  purpose  of 
encouraging  large  estates,  and  of  preventing  that 
distribution  amongst  the  people,  to  facilitate  which 
a  simpler  code  is  absolutely  necessary. 

If  the  reader  will  take  the  trouble  of  investi- 
gating   these    regulations,    he    will    be  as    much 
astonished  as  I  was,  with  their  remarkable  intri- 
cacy, and  their  tendency  directly  to  prevent  small 
proprietors  from  becoming  an  important  national 
interest.     As  long  as  an  owner  of  land  can  legally 
provide  against  the  possibility  of  his  domain  being 
sold  either  by  himself,  his  creditors,  or  his  imme- 
diate successors,  insuperable  obstacles  stand  in  the 
way  of  a  subdivision.     However  desirable  it  may 
be  for  all  concerned  that  the  estate  be  disposed  of, 
it  cannot  probably  be  brought  to  the  hammer  for 
fifty  or  even  a  hundred  years,  and  as  to  the  fancifid 
dispositions  which    possessors   may   make,  every 
kwyer  knows  that  there  is  no  end  to  them.     Then 
we   have    the   law  of   primogeniture,  prescribing 
that  if  a  man  owning  any  property  in  fee  simple 
should  die  intestate,  his  land  descends  undivided 


STATE  OF  THE  LAW. 


267 


to  his  nearest  relative;  he  may  have  a  large 
family,  and  be  a  young  person  who  did  not 
anticipate  the  approach  of  death ;  but  if  a  sudden 
stroke  cut  him  off,  his  younger  children  become 
beggars,  that  the  eldest  son  may  inherit  the 
"  honours ''  of  liis  ancestors.  Our  legal  code  in 
fact  prevents,  except  in  exceptional  instances,  the 
natural  di\ision  of  the  land ;  it  deprives  all  classes, 
except  a  privileged  one,  from  aspiring  to  be  owners 
of  the  soil ;  it  defrauds  creditors  of  their  just  claims ; 
it  enables  a  large  body  of  indebted,  ignorant,  and 
sometimes  profligate  men,  to  maintain  positions  in 
society  which  they  could  not  hold  in  any  conti- 
nental country  ;  it  offers  a  direct  encouragement 
to  extravagant  living,  bad  fanning,  and  dishonest 
dealing  ;  it  ruins  a  large  proportion  of  eldest  sons 
and  drives  their  younger  brethren  to  improper 
courses. 

This  system  of  land-holding  also  necessitat 
deeds  which,  in  point  of  length  and  obscurity, 
would  astonish  the  proprietors  of  France  and 
Germany ;  every  sort  of  contingency  must  be 
provided  against ;  and  clauses  of  an  explanatory 
nature  require  to  be  inserted  in  such  number,  as  to 

M  2 


268 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


perplex  even  lawyers  themselves.     Then  who  can 
tell  how  many  deeds  affect  estates,  or  how  many 
parties  possess  them  ?    You  may  buy  a  property 
in  perfect  good  faith  one  year,  and  find  the  next 
that  some  person  at  a  distance  holds  a  mortgage 
over  it,  which  adds  one  hundred  per  cent,  to  the 
cost  of  the  purchase.     No  doubt  a  good  system  of 
registration  might,  to  some  extent,  obviate  tliis  last 
evil ;  but  the  general  desire  now  felt  by  the  people 
of  this  country  to  possess  portions  of  the  soil  can 
never  be  gratified  until  the  legislature  turns   its 
attention    in    earnest    to  the    task   of    reforming, 
simplifying,    and   codifying   our   intricate,  if  not 
incomprehensible  feudal  laws. 

I  have  made  these  remarks  merely  to  show,  that 
difficulties  of  no  common  order  stand  in  the  way 
of  the  working  and  middle   classes   obtaining   a 
highly  desirable   end.     Would  it  not  materially 
conduce  to  the  prosperity  of  Great  Britain,  to  the 
maintenance  of  peace  and  order,  to  the  removal  of 
discontent  and  revolutionary  tendencies,  were  these 
legal   obstacles   finally  and  effectually  removed? 
Many  of  my  readers  are  of  course  aware  that  the 
French  code  renders  the  subdivision  of  inheritances 


THE  FRENCH   LAW. 


269 


imperative ;  a  man  cannot  distinguish  between  his 
children  ;  but  is  required  to  leave  them  equal  por- 
tions at  his  death.  It  will  not  be  for  a  moment 
supposed  that  the  foregoing  observations  have  been 
made  with  a  view  of  recommending  the  adoption 
of  such  a  system  in  England ;  if  British  law  make 
unnatural  provision  for  preventing  the  distribution 
of  the  land,  the  regulations  of  France  make  as  un- 
natural provision  for  preventing  its  accumulation. 
Ought  not  matters  be  allowed  to  take  the  course 
which  nature  points  out  as  suitable  under  particular 
circumstances  ? 

We  have  seen  that  the  system  of  peasant  pro- 
prietors abroad  improves  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  that  it  fosters  a  respect  for  property,  that  it 
removes  many  causes  of  abject  poverty,  that  it 
raises  the  social  condition  of  the  masses,  that  it 
promotes  conservative  principles,  and  adds  to  the 
comforts  of  the  labouring  poor.  But  it  cannot  be 
concealed,  that  disadvantages  attend  the  adoption 
of  this  plan  ;  and  it  now  only  remains  for  me  to 
suggest  a  few  of  them,  that  those  who  peruse  these 
pages  may  judge  of  their  logical  cogency. 

First  of  all,  the  traveller  on  the  continent  will 


270 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


learn  that  a  vast  majority  of  the  small  proprietors 
are  deeply  in  debt.  I  was  informed  in  the  country 
districts  of  Normandy,  that  most  of  the  lando\vners 
in  that  province  had  to  apply  at  least  half  of  their 
receipts  towards  the  payment  of  interest  on  money 
borrowed  frequently  at  eight  to  nine  per  cent,  per 
annum.  French  economists  generally  estimate  that 
the  peasants  have  not  more  than  three-eighths  of 
the  produce  of  the  soil  left  to  supply  the  wants  of 
their  families ;  and  as  one  generation  after  another 
passes  away,  the  burdens  become  more  and  more 
severe,  so  that  society  does  not  advance,  but  suffers 
a  retrograde  movement.  In  Canada  the  same 
injurious  effect  has  resulted  from  the  excessive  sub- 
division of  the  land.*  While  travelling  along  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1846,  T  heard  this 
evil  universally  complained  of;  and  both  at  Quebec 
and  at  Montreal,  several  intelligent  persons  told 
me  that  it  constituted  one  of  the  great  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  improving  the  social  condition  of  the 
people  in  the  lower  province.  It  is  however  a 
matter  for  consideration,  how  ftir  this  drawback  of 


*  See  Professor  Johnston's  "  Notes  on  North  America,"  vol.  i. 
p.  347. 


DEBTS  OF  SMALL  ESTATES. 


271 


indebtedness  applies  only  to  SMALL  estates.    Many 
years  have  rolled  over  our  heads  since  the  Spectator 
thus  ^vrote  in  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley.     "  To  pay 
for,  personate,  and  keep  in  a  man's  hands,  a  greater 
estate  than  he  really  has,  is  of  all  others  the  most 
unpardonable  vanity,  and  must  in  the  end  reduce 
the  man  who  is  guilty  of  it  to  dishonour.     Yet  if 
we  look  round  us  in  any  county  of  Great  Britain, 
we  shall  see  many  in  this  fatal  error ;  if  that  may 
be  called  by  so  soft  a  name,  which  proceeds  from  a 
false   shame   of  appearing  what  they  really  are, 
when  the  contrary  behaviour  would  in  a  short  time 
advance  them  to  the  condition  which  they  pretend 
to."     Few  who  know  England  of  the  present  day, 
will  say  that  this  picture  has  altered,  at  least  for 
the  better.     The  operation  of  the  law  of  entail,  the 
wish  to  do  the  honours  of  the   family,  Horace's 
"  paupertatis  pudor  etfuga,''  the  shame  of  appear- 
ing poor,  and  many  other  causes,  have  combined 
to  overwhelm  a  great  proportion  of  our  landed  pro- 
prietors with  pecuniary  burdens,  which  they  never 
can  repay.     When  I  look  around  me  in  Scotland, 
I  lind  the  same  state  of  things.     In  the  county  of 
Forfarshire,  a  majority  of  the  landlords  are  in  an 


272 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


LAND    IN    RESERVE. 


273 


insolvent  condition,  and  yet  legal  difficulties  enough 
to  alarm  a  prudent  man  oppose  themselves  to  the 
immediate  sale  of  the  properties. 

The  distribution  of  the  soil  abroad  is  attended 
also  with  disadvantages,  inasmuch  as  it  prevents 
the  free  interchange  of  industry ;  every  peasant 
grows  his  own  com,  cultivates  his  own  vegetables, 
kills  his  own  cattle,  and  produces  his  own  flax  and 
liemp ;  he  is  an  isolated  being,  uninfluenced  by  the 
advances  of  his  fellows ;  he  does  not  keep  pace 
with  the  progress  of  the  age,  but  continues  to 
labour  as  in  the  good  old  time,  celebrated  by  Oliver 
Goldsmith  in  the  Deserted  Village,  "  when  every 
rood  of  ground  maintained  its  man."  It  becomes 
a  question  whether  such  a  state  of  society  accords 
with  the  beneficent  designs  of  God  for  the  im- 
provement and  civilization  of  the  race. 

The  eflect  too  of  this  proprietary  independence 
is,  to  cause  a  want  of  employment  in  the  various 
trades,  and  to  turn  loose  upon  a  country  a  body  of 
men  not  required  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and 
ready  to  erect  barricades  in  the  nearest  city.  It  is 
astonishing  what  a  preponderance  of  this  idle  class 
may  be  found  among  the  "  blouses,"  who  have  so 


I 


often  deluged  Paris  with  the  blood  of  its  best  in- 
habitants. If  the  subdivision  of  the  land  makes 
the  owner  himself  a  conservative,  does  it  not  also 
make  his  sons  and  brothers  the  very  apostles  of 
revolution  ? 

Then,  again,  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  tlie  fact, 
that  while  we  in  England  have  a  great  portion  of 
our  land  reserved  to  meet  future  wants,*  on  the 
continent,  at  least  in  most  districts,  it  is  all  yielding 
food  or  clothing  for  man.  Should  any  unforeseen 
calamity  occur  abroad, — such  as  a  succession  of  bad 
harvests,  or  a  continuance  of  desolating  wars,  the 
consequences  might  be  of  the  most  frightful  nature. 
Since  Napoleon's  conquests,  great  changes  have 
taken  place  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  both  of 
France  and  Germany ;  and  those  campaigns  which 
fomierly  impoverished  large  proprietors,  might  now 
reduce  a  land-owning  peasantry  to  a  situation  that 
beggars  description ;  the  rapine  which  drove  the 
feudal  nobleman  to  economise  in  other  lands,  might 
drive  the  holder  of  a  dozen  acres  to  commit  suicide, 
or  begin  life  as  a  robber.    Whence  come  the  young 

*  In  Scotland,  of  11 J  millions  of  acres  capable  of  being  culti- 
vated, 6  millions  remain  waste. 

m3 


274 


THE   TAGL'S   ASD   THE  TIBER. 


THREATENING  DANGERS. 


275 


men  who  shout  for  a  red-repuUic  in  the  streets  of 
Berlin,  Frankfort,  Dresden  and  Paris,  hut  from  the 
self-dependent  properties  on  the  garden-like  soil  ? 

A  more  equal  distribution  of  temporal  good  is 
what  English  philanthropists  desire   to  effect   in 
this  enlightened  age.     Whether  or  not  the  laws 
relating  to  land  prevent   the  realization   of  their 
hopes,  it  is  for  our  statesmen  to  decide ;  but  the 
object  commends  itself  at  once  as  worthy  of  being 
pursued  with  unabated  energy.    Silently  but  surely 
every  effort  of  the  benevolent  tends  to  this  con- 
summation ;  and  no  farseeing  politician  does  not 
feel  that  the  safety  of  our  country  lies  in  equalising 
in  a  greater  degree  than  at  present  the  condition 
of  the  various  classes  in  the  state.     Great  Britain 
has  acquired  enormous  wealth ;  yet  wretchedness 
in  equivalent  proportion  threatens  to  swallow  it  up; 
our  vessel,  not,  it  is  true,  driven  by  a  tempest, 
without  rudder  or  masts,  but  in  a  calm  sea,  and 
manned  by  a  skilful  crew,  drifts  towards  that  rock 
on  which  Genoa  and  Venice  struck  and  went  to 
pieces,  in  the  palmy  days  of  their  power.     Should 
not  we  timeously  take  warning,  and  before  the 
watery  deluge  over^vhclm  us,  consult  the  chart. 


i 


and  change  our  bearings  ?  Our  wealth  and  splen- 
dour now  glitter  before  an  admiring  world,  but 
danger  lurks  beneath  the  surface;  we  have  a  moral 
volcano  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  it  will  require 
sagacity  and  foresight  on  the  part  of  our  rulers, 
to  avert  the  hand  of  the  avenger  lifted  up  to 
destroy.* 

*  "  Servants,  labourers,  and  workmen  of  different  kinds  make 
up  the  far  greater  part  of  every  great  political  eociety.  But 
what  improves  the  circumstances  of  the  greater  part  can  never 
be  regarded  as  any  inconvenience  to  the  whole.  No  society  can 
surely  be  flourishing  and  happy,  of  which  the  far  greater  part  of 
the  members  are  poor  and  miserable." — Adam  Smith's  "  Wealth 
Nations,"  book  i.  chap.  8, 


CHAPTER  XL 

NOTES  ON  THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE  AT 
HOME  AND  ABROAD. 

IGNORANCE  YET  PREVALENT  IN  ENGLANI>— THE  COMMON  SCHOOLS 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  AMERICA— STATISTICS  OF  EDUCATIONAL 
INSTITUTIONS  IN  PRUSSIA,  SAXONY,  BAVARIA,  BADEN,  DENMARK, 
HOLLAND  AND  FRANCE— MR.  JOSEPH  KAY's  WORK  ON  THIS  SUB- 
JECT—THE EVILS  OP  CENTRALIZATION— FUNCTIONARIES  IN 
GERMANY— MR.  LAINg's  TESTIMONY— OBSERVATIONS  ON  MR.  KAYS 
PRAISE  OP  THE  LANDWEHR  SYSTEM,  AND  OF  THE  AMUSEMENTS 
POPULAR  ON  THE  CONTINENT— EFFECTS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  IN- 
STRUCTION IN  BADEN— OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  PLAN  OF  EDUCATION 
ADOPTED  ABROAD— THE  SCHOLARS  TAUGHT  RATHER  TO  BE  GOOD 
SUBJECTS  THAN  USEFUL  MEN— MR,  KAY's  PECULIAR  SENTIMENTS 
REGARDING  RELIGIOUS  TRAINING— THE  FR^RF^  CHRETIENS— THE 
COMMON  SCHOOLS  OF  AUSTRIA— OPINION  OP  MR.  PAGET~UN- 
SUITABLENESS  OF  THE  GERMAN  SYSTEM  OF  INSTRUCTION  TO  THE 
CIRCUMSTANCES  OP  ENGLAND. 

It  will  be  admitted  by  men  of  the  most  discordant 
sentiments,  that  no  political  question  of  the  present 
day  is  more  important  than  that  which  concerns 
the  education  of  the  British  people.  None  of  the 
various  combatants  who  so  strenuously  advocate 
their  own  peculiar  views  as  to  the  means  to  be  used 


EDUCATION   OF  THE    PEOPLE. 


277 


for  the  instruction  of  the  masses,  deny  that,  both  in 
the  rural  districts  and  in  the  manufacturing  towns, 
there  prevails  an  amount  of  ignorance  discreditable 
to  us  as  a  nation,  and  likely  to  be  followed  at  an 
after  period  by  consequences  dangerous  to  the  best 
institutions  of  our  country.  Some  wish  to  esta- 
blish a  centralized  system  of  secular  education, 
some  to  combine  religious  teaching  with  secular, 
in  schools  supported  by  government,  some  to  in- 
troduce the  American  plan  of  local  committees 
and  district  assessments,  some  to  leave  the  matter 
in  the  hands  of  the  different  Christian  denomi- 
nations, and  supplement  their  efforts  by  grants 
from  the  Treasury,  and  others  to  trust  to  voluntary 
exertions  entirely  in  the  instruction  of  the  com- 
munity. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  for  me  to  adduce 
arguments  in  support  of  any  of  these  schemes  ; 
they  have  their  respective  advocates  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  and  whoever  takes  an  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  society,  will  make  it  his  business  to 
examine  their  merits.  But  in  the  midst  of  this 
conflict,  may  not  the  object  itself  be  lost  sight  of; 
while  discussing  the  diverse  methods  proposed,  are 


278 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


EDUCATION  ON  THE   CONTINENT. 


279 


we  not  in  danger  of  providing  no  antidote  at  all 
against  the  crying  and  admitted  evil  ? 

Whatever  value  may  be  attached  to  the  statistics 
either  of  Mr.  Richson  or  of  Mr.  Baines ;  whether 
it  be  true  or  not  that  eight  millions  of  people  in 
the  kingdom  can  neither  read  nor  write, — few 
acquainted  with  the  social  condition  of  other 
countries,  will  doubt  the  correctness  of  the  state- 
ment, that  education  is  much  less  widely  diffused 
in  England  than  in  Switzerland,  Denmark,  Hol- 
land, Germany,  or  France. 

It  would  very  much  accord  with  my  own  incli- 
nation were  I  here  to  lay  before  the  reader  a  few  of 
the  wonderful  effects  produced  by  the  common 
school  system  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
which  came  under  my  observation  in  the  course  of 
several  visits  paid  to  these  institutions,  and  of  a 
careful  perusal  of  the  reports  which  have  since 
appeared  in  official  documents,  as  well  as  in  the 
books  of  English  travellers  ;*  but  such  a  disqui- 
sition would  occupy  too  many  pages  of  this  volume. 

*  I  recommend  every  one  interested  in  the  Great  Republic  to 
read  Mackay's  "  Western  "VV^orld,"  the  best  work  ever  published 
on  America.  See  also  Sir  Charles  Lyell's  valuable  voliunes, 
and  Professor  Johnston's  "  Notes." 


I 


It  is  sufficient  for  my  present  puq)ose  to  remark, 
that  most  intelligent  Britons  who  have  travelled  in 
the  Union  now  admit  that  the  schoolhouses  of  New 
England,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York,  are 
the  safety-valves  of  society,  the  main-springs  of 
the  national  greatness,  the  most  illustrious  monu- 
ments of  political  sagacity  and  foresight  which  the 
last  century  has  left  behind.  Americans  who  visit 
Manchester,  Glasgow,  and  the  rural  counties  of 
England,  express  themselves  appalled  by  the 
ignorance  which  prevails, — ignorance  which  would 
be  discreditable  even  to  Greece  or  Spain ;  but 
which  one  would  scarcely  expect  to  meet  in  the 
freest,  richest,  most  powerful  monarchy  in  the 
world. 

Whilst  we  have  been  allowing  our  masses  to 
grow  up  in  ignorance  even  of  the  ABC,  what 
has  been  doing  by  our  neighbours  on  the  Continent? 
In  Prussia  there  are  now  23,646  schools,  attended  in 
1844  by  2,328,146  children,  and  taught  by  29,639 
well-instructed  masters  ;  in  Saxony  2,925  teachers 
instruct  the  youth  in  the  public  academies;  Ba- 
varia, with  a  population  of  little  more  than  four 
millions,  has  7,353  schools,  and  556,239  scholars ; 


280 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


in  Baden  there  are  1,971  primary  schools  to 
1,400,000  inhabitants  ;  Hanover  has  3,428  schools; 
Denmark  4,600;  Holland  2,832;  and  France 
59,838 ;  while  in  Switzerland,  like  New  England, 
such  ignorance  as  prevails  in  Britain  may  be  said 
to  be  unknown.* 

It  must  be  acknowledged  by  every  one  that  some 
steps  must  be  taken  immediately  by  us  to  meet 
this  sad  deficiency  in  the  means  of  education ; 
statesmen  of  all  parties  now  see  the  evil,  and  it 
will  not  be  to  our  honour,  if,  sinking  minor  differ- 
ences, we  do  not  unite  to  remove  it.  Few  sessions 
will,  in  all  probability,  pass  away  before  Govern- 
ment finds  it  absolutely  necessary  to  lay  this  sub- 
ject seriously  before  parliament ;  for  every  year 
increases  tlte  difficulty  of  legislating,  and  renders 
the  future  prospects  of  England  more  pregnant 
with  political  dangers  ;  the  unprincipled  demagogues 
who  now  harangue  the  masses,  can  only  be  de- 
prived of  their  pernicious  inflii  ncc  by  a  general 
diffusion  of  knowledge ;  had  the  schoolmaster 
been    abroad,    they   never   would    have   collected 

*  "  Of  the  whole  population,  including  even  Laplanders,  the 
proportion  of  grown-up  persons  in  Sweden  unable  to  read  is  less 
than  1  in  1,000."— Laing's  "Tour  in  Sweden." 


THE  PRUSSIAN  SYSTEM. 


281 


audiences ;  and  when  he  once  more  attains  his 
proper  position,  they  will  sink  into  the  obscurity  of 
men  devoted  to  vulgar  intrigues,  and  living  on  the 
simplicity  of  their  fellows.  A  well-organized 
system  of  national  instruction  is  the  great  deside- 
ratum in  England. 

My  object  in  the  following  brief  remarks,  is  to 
warn  those  whose  attention  must  be  turned  to  sup- 
plying this  great  want  against  some  of  the  evils 
which  result  from  the  bureaucratic,  centralized 
plans  of  education  in  operation  abroad.  None 
conversant  with  the  state  of  society  on  the  conti- 
nent will  deny,  that  in  some  respects  they  have 
been  attended  with  benefit ;  but  at  the  same  time 
their  disadvantages  ought  with  candour  and  truth- 
fulness to  be  laid  before  the  British  public.  Two 
years  ago,  Mr.  Joseph  Kay  published  a  laborious 
and  able  work  on  "  The  Social  Condition  and 
Education  of  the  People  in  England  and  Europe," 
in  which  he  defends  the  Prussian  system  of  educa- 
tion against  all  objectors,  and  recommends  it  for 
immediate  adoption  in  our  country.  With  many 
of  his  views  I  cheerfully  coincide ;  but  with  others 
I  must  beg  leave  to  disagree  in  toto  ccdo,  for  they 


282 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


appear  to  me  subversive  of  national  liberty.  No 
plan  of  instruction  on  the  principle  of  centralization 
seems  likely  to  meet  with  approval  on  the  part  of 
the  English  people ;  they  have  from  time  imme- 
morial been  governed  on  the  local  and  municipal 
system,  and  will  never,  in  my  opinion,  submit  to 
any  important  undertaking  of  universal  interest 
being  committed  to  the  superintendence  of  a 
cabinet-minister  and  a  Government  bm*eau. 

Delegated  power  best  suits  the  disposition  of 
Britons;  they  have  seen  its  beneficial  results  in 
their  own  country  and  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica, and  they  wish  now  to  diminish  rather  than 
increase  the  duties  of  the  central  executive.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  quality  of  self-reliance  is  the  glory 
of  Englishmen,  and  they  will  not  be  easily  per- 
suaded to  forego  its  advantages ;  no  cause  of 
national  weakness  has  manifested  itself  more  clearly 
in  recent  times  than  the  swallowing  up  of  all  local 
endeavours,  by  an  authority  at  the  capital.  Neither 
Socialist  theories  nor  Eepublican  plots  have  con- 
tributed so  much  to  the  convulsions  of  Germany, 
as  the  functionary  system,  having  its  head-quarters 
at  Berlin,  Munich,  Dresden,  Stuttgard  and  Carls- 


il]i   —  ■     i«  III 


A  GERMAN   FUNCTIONARY. 


283 


ruhe,  and  its  ramifications  throughout  every  part 
of  the  country.  "  A  half  military  education  of  all 
the  youth,"  says  Mr.  Laing,  "  a  submission  of  all 
self-action  and  social  duty  to  functionary  manage- 
ment, a  subversion  of  all  hereditary  religion  among 
the  Protestant  population,  and  of  all  domestic,  re- 
ligious and  moral  training,  by  the  system  of 
Government  schools,  independent  of  the  parents, 
have  reared  up  a  young  generation  amongst  the 
German  people,  bound  by  none  of  the  ties  which 
hold  society  together."* 

Sir  Walter  Scott  describes  Monsieur  Le  Cheva- 
lier Saint  Priest  de  Beaujeu,  as  a  man  whose 
"  pretensions  to  quality  were  supported  by  a 
feathered  hat,  a  long  rapier,  and  a  suit  of  em- 
broidered taffeta,  not  much  the  worse  for  the  wear, 
in  the  extreme  fashion  of  the  Parisian  com*t,  and 
fluttering  like  a  ^laypole  with  many  knots  of 
ribbon,  of  which  it  was  computed  he  bore  at  least 
five  hundred  yards  about  his  person."  f  This  is 
the  sort  of  individual  who  presides  over  every  de- 

*  "  Observations  on  Europe,"  p.  486.  See  also  the  admirable 
chapter  on  the  Prussian  Educational  System,  in  Mr.  Laing's 
"  Notes  of  a  Traveller." 

t  "  Fortunes  of  Nigel,"  vol.  i.  p.  241. 


284 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE  TIBER. 


partmeut  of  Government  in  Prussia,  who  enters 
the  houses  of  the  inhabitants,  lays  down  rules  for 
the  regulation  of  families,  fixes  what  books  are  to 
be  read,  what  newspapers  tolerated,  and  what 
churches  ought  to  receive  the  support  of  the  nation. 
In  a  former  volume  I  have  pointed  out  some  of 
the  evils  of  this  pernicious  system,  and  after  their 
elaborate  exposure  by  Mr.  Laing  and  other  WTiters, 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Germany, 
it  surprised  me  to  find  Mr.  Kay  passing  them  by 
with  scarcely  a  single  word  of  notice.  Not  only 
does  he  look  upon  the  educational  institutions  as 
perfect ;  but  he  goes  out  of  his  way  to  praise  that 
Landwehr  system,  which  a  far  more  philosopliical 
traveller  declares  to  be  ''  the  incubus  on  the  pro- 
sperity, liberty  and  morality  of  the  German  people." 
According  to  Mr.  Kay,  ''  it  does  not  breed  any 
discontent,  nor  does  it  at  all  unfit  a  young  man  for 
the  duties  of  his  after  life ;  but  it  returns  him  to 
his  parish  and  his  home,  a  manly,  orderly,  gentle- 
manly and  hard  working  citizen."* 

How  any  man  acquainted  with  the  social  con- 
dition of  Prussia  and  other  countries  abroad  can 

•  Vol.  i.  p.  30. 


GERMAN  SOCIAL  HABITS. 


285 


bring  himself  to  believe  a  statement  so  manifestly 
erroneous  as  this,  passes  my  comprehension.  The 
English  public  may  well  be  excused,  if  unable  to 
see  any  economy  in  taking  away  the  youth  of  the 
land,  for  the  best  three  years  of  their  life,  to  be 
drilled  as  soldiers ;  in  keeping  on  foot  during  peace 
a  military  organization  necessary  only  in  cases  of 
invasion  ;  in  supporting,  for  a  considerable  period, 
thousands  of  young  men  who  ought  to  be  learning 
trades ;  and  in  encouraging  amongst  a  nation, 
whose  safety  lies  in  cultivating  the  arts  of  peace,  a 
love  for  the  idleness  of  the  barrack  and  the  pa- 
geantry of  war. 

Mr.  Kay,  too,  has  fallen  in  love  with  the  amuse- 
ments of  the  people  abroad ;  "  the  tea-gardens  " 
and  "  coffee-houses"  appear  to  him  the  7i€  i^hs 
ultra  of  civilization.  "  I  learned  there,"  {i.e,  in 
the  pleasure  gardens ! !)  says  he,  "  how  high  a 
civilization  the  poorer  classes  of  a  nation  are 
capable  of  attaining  imder  a  well-arranged  system 
of  those  laws  which  affect  the  social  condition  of 
the  people."*  Does  it  not  strike  the  British 
reader,  acquainted  with  Germany,  that  this  mode 

•  Vol.  i.  p.  240. 


286 


THE   TAGUS   AND   THE   TIBER. 


DUCHY  OF   BADEN. 


287 


r 


of  living  in  public,  spending  evening  after  evening 
in  seeking  amusement,  is  a  lamentable  waste  of 
time,  and  quite  unsuited  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  cha- 
racter ?  It  reminds  me  of  the  large  top  formerly 
kept  in  our  villages,  to  be  whipped  in  frosty 
weather,  that  the  peasants  might  be  kept  warm  by 
exercise,  and  out  of  mischief  while  they  could  not 
work.  When  men  are  not  allowed  to  interest 
themselves  in  the  government  of  their  country — 
when  everything  is  done  for  them,  not  by  them — 
they  become  mere  babies,  amused  by  trifles,  and 
unconscious  of  the  value  of  time. 

But  these  subjects  would  require  much  more 
elaborate  illustration  ;  I  only  allude  to  them  here 
in  connexion  with  Mr.  Kay's  views  on  the  educa- 
tion of  the  people  in  Germany.  In  pages  241  and 
307  of  his  second  volume  the  reader  will  find  these 
sentences  : — ''  Baden  has  even  outstripped  Prussia 
in  the  high  character  of  the  intelligence  of  her 
people.  And  let  it  be  remembered,  the  peasants 
are  more  contwted,  more  orderly,  and  more  peace- 
ful in  their  habits,  more  moral,  and,  in  a  word, 
more  civilized,  than  those  of  any  country  in  the 
world."     "  Since  1830,  the  school  buildings  and 


apparatus  of  the  Duchy  of  Baden  have  been  very 
much  improved.  At  present  there  is,  perhaps,  no 
country  in  Germany  where  the  material  of  educa- 
cation  is  so  perfect." 

Those  who  have  travelled  on  the  Continent  since 
the  troubles  of  1848,  even  readers  of  the  English 
newspapers,  do  not  require  to  be  told  the  result  of 
this  "  perfect  material  of  education,'*  viz.  that 
Baden  is  the  hot-bed  of  the  most  visionary,  anar- 
chical, unprincipled,  senseless  schemes,  both  in 
politics  and  religion,  that  Europe  has  ever  heard 
promulgated.  The  red  republicans  of  France  were 
out-Heroded  by  the  frantic  demagogues  of  this 
duchy  ;  and  pantheism,  in  its  wildest  forms,  exists 
in  every  corner  of  the  country. 

Surely  ^Ir.  Kay  has  been  shut  out  from  the 
world  for  tliree  or  four  years  past,  else  he  never 
would  have  committed  an  error  so  glaring  as  to 
designate  the  peasants  of  Baden  "  contented,  or- 
derly, and  peaceful  in  their  habits."  The  mobs  of 
Mannheim,  the  barricades  in  Carlsruhe,  the  siege 
of  Rastadt,  the  frightful  commotions  in  the  rural 
districts,  testify  that  a  more  discontented,  unruly, 
and  restlessly  revolutionaiy  people  does  not  exist 


288 


THE   TAGUS   AND  THE   TIBER. 


in  Europe.      They   may    liave   the  *' material   of 
education,"  but  they  want  its  reality ;  they  require 
a  body  of  schoolmasters  to  teach  them  the  plainest 
dictates  of  common  sense. 

Again,  Mr.  Kay  remarks,  *  "  Every  government 
in  Germany  has  acted  as  if  public  order  and  public 
morality  depended  entirely  on  the  people   being 
able  to  think.''     "Each  teacher  in  his  village  is 
labouring  among  the  poor,  not  so  much  to  teach 
them  their  ABC  and  mere  school-room  learning, 
as   to  enable  them    to   think;  to  show  them  the 
present,  as  well  as  the  future  advantages  of  manly 
virtue,  and  to  explain  to  them  how  much  their  own 
prosperity  in  life  depends  upon  their  own  exertions. 
This  is  education  !"  .  .  .  "The  character  of  the  in- 
struction given  in  all  the  German  schools  is  sug- 
gestive ;  the  teachers  labour  to  teach  the  children 
to   educate   themselves."     Now   it   may  be   con- 
sidered presumptuous  in  me  to  doubt  the  correct- 
ness of  these  statements  ;  but  it  does  not  appear 
from  what  we  have  seen  of  late  in  Germany,  that 
the  people  either  "  think,"  in  the  British  acceptation 
of  the  term,  or  "  depend  upon  their  own  exertions." 

*  Vol.  ii.  pp.  76, 130,  212. 


EDUCATION  IN  GERMANY. 


289 


All  sorts  of  extravagant  political  and  religious 
ideas  exist  amongst  them ;  they  fly  from  one 
extreme  to  the  other — one  day  indulge  in  all  the 
license  of  anarchy,  the  next  quietly  resign  them- 
selves to  the  tender  mercies  of  despotism ;  now 
embrace  the  tenets  of  material  or  rationalistic 
philosophy — again  set  off  in  thousands  to  fall 
down  in  adoration  before  the  Holy  Coat  at  Treves. 
When  excited  there  is  no  species  of  theological 
fanaticism  too  absurd  for  them  ;  when  subdued, 
they  permit  the  King  of  Prussia  to  unite  hy  edict 
the  Protestant  Churches,  professing  different  tenets, 
into  one  great  institution  of  government.  "  They 
indulge,"  says  Longfellow,*  "  in  many  speculations 
in  literature,  philosophy,  and  religion,  which, 
though  pleasant  to  walk  in,  and  lying  under  the 
shadow  of  great  names,  yet  lead  to  no  important 
result.  They  resemble  rather  those  roads  in  the* 
Western  forests  of  my  native  land,  which,  though 
broad  and  pleasant  at  first,  and  lying  beneath  the 
shadow  of  great  branches,  finally  dwindle  into  a 
squiiTcl-track,  and  run  up  a  tree." 

Mr.  Kay  himself  remarks,  f  "  In  Bohemia  the 

•  Hyperion,  p.  87.  +  Vol.  i.  p.  12. 

VOL.  II.  N 


290 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


instruction  is  planned  so  as  to  make  the  people 
good  subjects."     This  is  true,  but  it  applies  just  as 
forcibly  to  the  schools  in  Bavaria,   Prussia,  and 
Saxony,  as   to   those   in   Bohemia ;  it   has  been 
fashioned  with  the  express  purpose  of  strengthen- 
ing that  system  of  government,  which  reminds  me 
of  Sir  Anthony  Absolute's  "  simple  process  with 
his  children."  *    "  In  their  younger  days^"  said  that 
worthy  person,  "  'twas,   *  Jack,   do   this,' — if  he 
demurred,   I    knocked    him   down ;    and,   if    he 
grumbled  at  that,  I  always  sent  him  out  of  the 
room."     If  the  teachers  abroad  had  really  devoted 
themselves  to  instructing  the  children  in  the  art  of 
"  educating  themselves,"  we  should  have  seen  a 
very   different    state    of   things  in   France    and 
Germany  at  the  present  time. 

It  is  related  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  t  that  in  the 
training  of  his  owti  family  "  he  attached  little 
importance  to  anything  else,  so  he  could  perceive 
that  the  young  curiosity  was  excited — the  intellect, 
by  whatever  springs  of  interest,  set  in  motion. 
He  detested  and  despised  the  whole  generation  of 

•  The  Rivals,  Act  L  Scene  2. 

t  See  Life,  by  Lockliart,  chap.  xviL 


GERMAN  EDUCATION. 


291 


modern  children's  books,  in  which  the  attempt  is 
made  to  convey  accurate  notions  of  scientific 
minutiae." 

This  is  precisely  the  part  of  education  which  has 
no  place  in  the  common  schools  of  Germany ;  the 
youth  are  trained  to  be  accomplished  functionaries, 
excellent  policemen,  and  conversable  frequenters 
of  "  tea  gardens  ;"  but  they  have  none  of  that  self- 
reliance,  that  manly  independence,  that  dislike  to 
mere  theories,  that  practical  wisdom,  and  that  calm 
determination,  which  distinguish  even  the  illiterate 
masses  in  England.  It  may  fairly  be  questioned, 
wliethcr  the  British  artisan,  scarcely  able  to  read 
his  Bible,  is  not  more  capable  of  possessing 
political  privileges,  than  the  youth,  who  has  gone 
through  the  full  curriculum  in  a  Prussian  public 
school.  There  are  twice  as  many  printing-presses 
and  booksellers'  shops  in  our  large  cities  of  equal 
size,  as  in  Berlin,  the  head-quarters  of  learning 
abroad,  and  these  disseminate  knowledge  of  a  far 
more  practical  and  useful  kind.  "  Germany," 
Mr.  Laing  truly  says,  "  never  can  be  a  free  country, 
till  education  is  free."  * 

*  Observations  on  Europe,  p.  217. 


292 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL   LESSONS. 


293 


I   scarcely  know  what   to  think   of    some    of 
Mr.  Kay's    statements     regarding    religious    in- 
struction abroad.     In  one  place  *  he  tells  us,  that 
*'in  Wirtemberg   and  Baden,  where  the  people 
have   been    fitted   for  the   reception  of    a  higher 
species  of  Protestantism,  there  is  hardly  anything 
analogous  to  the  religious  extravagances  of   the 
Mormonites    and    Ranters."      "  Mormonites    and 
Ranters,"   indeed!      These    are    orthodox   sects, 
compared  with  the  wild  dreamers,  who  have  spread 
their    principles    far    and   wide    over    the    very 
countries    now   named.      "A   higher    species    of 
Protestantism!"      It   may   be     so;  but   it    is    a 
protesting  against   everything  that  is  great  and 
good  in  the  religion  of  Jesus,— a  negation  of  the 
cardinal  points  of  scriptural  theology,  of  the  very 
essentials  of  Christianity.    If  Baden  be  a  religious 
country,  alas  for   the  remainder   of  the   human 


race! 


f 


In  another  part  of  his  work  f  Mr.  Kay  favours 
us  with  a  table,  showing  the  lessons  of  the  Dresden 
Sunday  Schools ;  my  readers  will  judge  of  their 
suitableness,  when   I  mention   that   they  include 


I 


I 


•  VoL  ii.  p.  510. 


t  Vol.  ii.  p.  259. 


arithmetic,  geometry,  extraction  of  the  square  root, 
fractions,  rules  of  proportion,  and  their  application 
to  mechanics ;  geography,  history,  use  of  the 
globes,  drawing  in  lead,  chalk,  pen  and  ink  and 
colours,  orthogi-aphy,  etymology,  dictation  exer- 
cises," et  hoc  genus  omnel  Such  a  list  requires  no 
commentary. 

Mr.  Kay  commences  his  second  volume  by  an 
attempt  to  prove  that  our  religious  difficulties,  in 
the  way  of  establishing  a  system  of  national 
education,  are  not  greater  than  those  in  Prussia, 
Theoretically  this  may  be  true,  practically  it  is 
very  far  from  being  so.  No  doubt  there  exists  in 
Prussia  as  great  diversity  of  opinion  on  theological 
subjects  as  in  England ;  but  how  do  the  advisers 
of  Government  treat  them  ?  Will  our  author  tell 
us  that  ?  Do  they  ask  the  opinion  of  the  various 
sects  ?  Do  they  consult  their  wishes  ?  Do  they 
defer  to  their  conscientious  objections,  and  en- 
deavour to  meet  their  respective  views?  If  this 
policy  has  been  pursued,  and  yet  a  great  educational 
measure  carried  through,  let  us  by  all  means  take 
a  lesson.  But  far  otherwise  did  Frederick  William 
act  when  passing  national  laws.     With  him,  these 

N  3 


<,W.teiliKli-»1«t>i 


294 


THE  TAGU3  AND  THE  TIBER. 


THE  "  FRERES  CHRJ^TIENS." 


295 


denominations  are   not  recognised   at  all ;  so  far 
from   respecting  religious  scruples,  he  by  ukase 
several   years   ago   compelled   the  Lutheran   and 
Reformed  Churches  to  unite,  and  form  the  Protes- 
tant Church   of  Prussia!     How  does  Mr.  Kay 
think  that  a  proclamation   like   this  would    suit 
the  tastes  of  the  British  people?     Could  Queen 
Victoria,  the  most  deservedly  popular   sovereign 
that  ever  sat  on  the  throne  of  these  realms,  venture 
to   propose   such   an  act  of  uniformity?     If  the 
English  have  not  so  many  common  schools  as  the 
Germans,  they   have  sufficient   common   sense  to 
receive  such  a  proposal  with  scorn.     Is  not  the 
dame's  class  room  better  than  universities,  which 
teach  the  people  to  obey  ordinances  so  humiliating, 
and   a   system   so   degrading  to    the   dignity   of 

man? 

I  shall  only  trouble  the  reader  with  one  more 
extract  from  Mr.  Kay's  volumes.*  "  The  Fr^res 
Chre'tiens  at  Paris  are  a  society  of  men  who  have 
taken  the  vow  of  celibacy,  renounced  all  the  plea- 
sures of  society  and  relationship,  and  entered  into 
a  brotherhood,  retaining  only  two  objects  in  life— 

•  Vol.  ii.  p.  428. 


their  own  spiritual  advancement,  and  the  education 
of  the  children  of  the  poor.  The  young  men  are 
denied  all  the  ordinary  pleasures  of  life,  accustomed 
to  servile  occupations,  required  to  perfomi  the  most 
humble  household  duties,  and  separated  from  the 
world  and  their  friends."  ..."  By  these  means," 
he  remarks,  "is  formed  a  character  admirably 
titted  for  the  important  office  of  teacher.'* 

That  may  be  his  opinion.  I  am  quite  sure  that 
it  is  not  the  opinion  of  a  great  majority  of  the 
people  of  this  country.  If  our  youth  are  to  be 
universally  educated,  as  I  hope  they  soon  will  be, 
save  us  from  preceptors  trained  in  such  a  manner 
as  Mr.  Kay's  "  Fr^res  Chretiens  !  " 

The  system  of  instruction  pursued  in  Prussia, 
and  the  small  German  principalities,  has  been  to 
some  extent  also  adopted  in  Austria.  Let  us 
attend  to  what  Mr.  Paget  says  in  regard  to  its 
fruits.*  "  Education  may  be  made  the  means  of 
training  to  ignorance  as  well  as  to  knowledge;  and 
I  know  of  no  better  exemplication  of  this  fact,  than 
the  system  of  instruction  pursued  by  Austria."  .  .  . 

*  Hungary  and  Transylvania,  vol.  ii.  pp.  458,  460. 


296 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


"  I  allow,  we  are  as  badly  off  for  education  as  a 
people  can  well  be,  but  yet  it  is  a  thousand  times 
better  to  remain  as  we  are  than  to  have  a  half- 
priest,  half-police  directed  system,  which   would 
impose  such  chains  on   our  understandings,  that 
through  our  whole  lives  we  should  never  be  able 
to  break  loose  from  them.      The  advocates  of  the 
Austrian  system  forget  that  there  are  other  sources 
of  knowledge  beside  books,  other  teachers  amongst 
us  than  our  pedagogues,  and  stronger  stimulants  to 
knowledge  than  even  their  well-soaked  birch.     It 
is  scarcely  possible  to  live  in  a  populous  country 
like    England   and   remain   very  ignorant.      Our 
ears,  our  eyes,  and  every  sense  convey  knowledge 
to  the  mind  at  every  moment,  from  every  object 
by  which  we  are  surrounded.     Reading  and  writ- 
ing are  very  useful  as  keys  to  the  doors  of  know- 
led  "-e  but  if  we  are  not  allowed  to  use  them  when 
we  have  acquired  them,  we  might  really  be  as  well 
without  them.     Now  something  of  this  Austrian 
system  has  been  introduced   into  the  schools   of 
Hungary,  particularly  among  the  Catholics.     The 
press,  too,  is  stifled  by  an  Austrian  censorship; 


GERMAN   SYSTEM    OF  INSTRUCTION.         297 

and  when  to  this  is  united  the  political  condition  in 
which  the  peasantry  live,  we  shall  scarcely  be 
astonished,  that  though  they  all  go  to  school,  and 
that  though  many  of  them  can  read  and  write  in 
two  or  three  languages,  they  are  yet  much  more 
ignorant  than  tlie  English  peasant,  who  cannot 
often  read  or  write  his  own  name." 

These  observations  have  been  made,  not  with 
a  view  of  supporting  any  particular  theory,  for  it 
would  be  altogether  out  of  place  for  me  to  dogma- 
tize on  so  important  a  subject,  but  solely  to  warn 
those  interested  in  the  cause  of  national  education, 
who  may  have  happened  to  read  partial  works  like 
Mr.  Kay's,  that  there  are  two  sides  of  the  question 
concerning  the  desirableness  of  the  German  systems 
of  instruction.  If  any  remarks  of  mine  induce 
further  research  on  the  part  of  those  who,  ignorant 
of  the  objections  to  the  centralized  Prussian  plan, 
have  been  accustomed  to  regard  it  as  suitable  for 
adoption  by  the  English  people,  my  object  will  be 
fully  attained.  No  doubt  many  advantages  attend 
the  common  schools  on  the  continent,  and  whoever 
writes  with  the  intention  of  discussing  the  matter 


298 


THE  TAGUS  AND  THE  TIBER. 


in  all  its  bearings,  will  conscientiously  lay  them 
before  his  readers,  at  the  same  time  that  he  states 
the  evils  which  have  come  under  his  notice. 

Duly  to  reflect  upon  these  considerations  is  the 
province  of  the  statesmen,  the  politicians,  and  the 
public  of  our  country ;  so  that  when  the  time  for 
legislative  enactment  arrives,  they  may  not  tind 
themselves  acquainted  with  only  one  set  of  argu- 
ments. 

Much  has  of  late  been  written  in  favour  of  the 
Prussian  plan  of  education,  by  travellers  who  seem 
quite  unconscious  of  its  obvious  disadvantages ;  and 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  if  their  sentiments  be 
adopted   without   investigation,  by  an  influential 
party  in  Britain,  very  serious  consequences  may 
follow.    Educate  the  people  by  all  means,  lay  aside 
minor  diff'erences  to  obtain  an  end  so  desirable ;  let 
the  Churchman  and  Dissenter  abate  to  some  extent 
their   rigid   claims,  and   theorists  of  every  class 
waive  their  peculiarities,  but  beware  of  interfering 
with  the  liberty  of  the  subject ;  recollect  that  the 
Englishman's  house  is  his  castle,  his  children  his 
own ;  and  whatever  be  done,  let  it  be  by  the  people, 


i 


CONCLUSION. 


299 


for  the  people,  and  subject  to  the  people's  local 
control ;  else  functionaries  and  central  bureaus  will 
soon  endanger  that  municipal  principle  which 
forms  the  basis  of  national  freedom,  the  Magna 
Charta  of  our  land. 

Gladly  would  many  enlightened  men  on  the 
continent  exchange  the  shallow  learning  of  their 
schools  for  the  self-reliance,  the  practical  wisdom, 
and  the  independence  of  mind  exhibited  by  the 
English  workman,  even  in  the  days  of  Queen 
Anne. 


THE  END. 


R.   «;LAY,    PRINTER,    BREAD   STREET    HILL. 


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